Maharashtra political crisis: Legal battle begins between Eknath Shinde rebels and Shiv Sena

The Supreme Court is due to hear the plea of Maharashtra Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde on disqualification notice against him and 15 rebel MLAs. The notice has been served by Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal. The matter will come up for hearing around 12:30 pm on Monday (June 27). A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala will hear the cases.

There are two petitions, one from Shinde and the other by rebel MLAs. The petitions challenge the disqualification notice and appointment of Ajay Chaudhary as leader of the legislative party. The move to disqualify has been termed by the rebel camp as 'illegal and unconstitutional'. The petition seeks a stay on the disqualification notice.

The rebel camp has sought directions to the deputy speaker to not take action on the notice

The Shinde camp claimed the move was illegal since disqualification can happen only for matters in the assembly and not for skipping a party meeting.

The Eknath Shinde camp has also challenged the appointment of Ajay Choudhary as the Shiv Sena Legislature Party leader by the Thackeray camp. They have also asked the court to direct the Maharashtra government to provide security to their families.

Shinde and a sizeable chunk of Shiv Sena's strength in the assembly are camping in a hotel in Guwahati, thousands of kilometres away from Shiv Sena's power base.

Shinde in his plea stated that the Deputy Speaker has lost his position as the MVA government has been reduced to a minority and in such a situation, he has no authority to invoke provisions of the Members of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1986, and send notices to him and 15 other MLAs, which form part of the breakaway group of 38 Sena legislators.

Shinde in his petition said, "It is common knowledge that the current government in Maharashtra, led by the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, has lost the majority in the House as 38 of the members of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party have withdrawn their support thus bringing it below the majority in the House. However, the MVA government continues to misuse the office of the deputy speaker to ensure that they remain in power by whatever means."

(With inputs from agencies)

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