The Supreme Court on Monday extended time for Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar to give his verdict on pleas related to the disqualification of MLAs from the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The SC bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud directed the Speaker to deliver his verdict by February 15, Live Law reported.
On October 30, the apex court set the deadline to January 31, asking the Speaker to decide on the matter as per the tenth schedule of the Constitution, to which Narwekar sought an extension.
Representing Narwekar, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the Speaker was occupied with deciding on the matter related to disqualification petitions of Shiv Sena MLAs. He asked for a “realistic” three-week time to give a verdict on the NCP matter.
NCP vs NCP row
Petitions were filed by the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP seeking the top court to intervene in the matter and direct the speaker to decide on disqualification pleas against the Ajit Pawar faction.
The pleas were filed after a section of the NCP party, led by Ajit Pawar, broke ranks and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition in the Maharashtra government. Ajit later took oath as the state’s deputy chief minister and eight other NCP MLAs as ministers. This prompted the Sharad Pawar faction to move a disqualification petition.
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In response, the Ajit Pawar faction claimed to be the “real” NCP, given that he enjoys the support of majority party MLAs. Following this, speaker Narwekar announced Ajit Pawar as the NCP legislative party leader in the assembly.