SC adjourns Uddhav Sena’s petition against the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker’s refusal to disqualify the MLAs belonging to Shinde group

On February 12, 2024 (Monday), the Supreme Court (SC) adjourned the petition filed by Uddhav Thackeray Sena against the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker’s refusal to disqualify the MLAs belonging to the Eknath Shinde group. The matter was to be heard by a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chnadrachud but due to paucity of time, the matter was not heard. However, the CJI agreed to list the matter at an earlier date for hearing stating that the issue of maintainability will be addressed first. During the SC proceedings, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal requested the bench for an early hearing and said “For hearing, because the other side is here my lords, it should not take another date…the other side is here, they should file their response if they want so that the matter can be…” In response, Senior Advocate Harish Salve who appeared for respondents, argued that the same issue cannot be heard in two different courts. He added that the Shinde faction had already approached the Bombay High Court concerning the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker’s refusal to disqualify the MLAs belonging to the Uddhav group. After hearing the contentions, CJI agreed to list the matter as early as possible and stated that it would hear the respondents on the issue of maintainability.