The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court will shortly deliver a verdict on the dispute between the warring factions of the Shiv Sena—one led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the other by Uddhav Thackeray. The Constitution Bench will assemble after a full-court reference in memory of former Chief Justice of India A M Ahmadi, which will begin at 10.30 am is over. As per Thursday's business list, the bench will first pronounce the judgement in the dispute between the Delhi Government and the Centre over the control of services, after which it will deliver its verdict in pleas related to the political fallout in Maharashtra due to the split in the Shiv Sena last year. Thursday's cause list, which is the list of business for the day, shows that the judgement has been authored by CJI Chandrachud and is likely to be unanimous. The top court is dealing with the issue of disqualification of 16 MLAs belonging to CM Shinde’s Sena. The 16 MLAs, including Shinde, were sent disqualification notices for not attending a party meeting convened by the then CM Uddhav Thackeray despite the whip which was issued. In July last year, when Shinde sought a trust vote on the floor of the Maharashtra Assembly, the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) combine got the support of 164 out of the 288 MLAs. The ruling alliance crossed the halfway mark of 145. A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, comprising CJI Chandrachud and Justices M R Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and P S Narasimha, had on March 16 concluded hearing and reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas filed by both Sena groups. Questions SC raised before reserving verdict While reserving its verdict after hearings conducted over a month, the Constitution Bench had asked how can Uddhav Thackeray be reinstated as the CM, even if it finds the Governor’s action in calling for a trust vote illegal, given that the former chief minister had resigned without facing the floor test, “accepting” that he was in a minority. The remark came as the Thackeray group urged the bench to restore the status quo ante. The Thackeray faction pleaded before the apex court for setting aside then Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari’s June 2022 order to Thackeray to take a floor test, asserting democracy will be in danger if it is not overturned. The Supreme Court expressed reservations about the extent to which it can turn back the clock, remarking that it might not be possible to restore the earlier speaker (the then deputy speaker) decide on disqualification petitions of MLAs of Eknath Shinde camp or invalidate the trust vote which never took place (since Uddhav Thackeray resigned before the trust vote was held). The Court had also opined that the letter written by Koshyari in June 2022, asking Thackeray to undergo a floor test to prove his majority in the Maharashtra Assembly had "extraneous and irrelevant grounds". The bench also asked if the governor was right in inviting Eknath Shinde to form the government in June 2022 instead of a leader of the BJP, which is the single-largest party in the Maharashtra Assembly. It had also questioned the governor's decision to call for a floor test based on discontent with the Shinde faction with the party leader. The apex court also said that the threats to the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs could not have been ground to unseat the Thackeray government. Background of rival petitions before SC The Supreme Court has been hearing a batch of petitions filed by both Sena factions since June 2022. The Shinde camp leaders first challenged the June 21, 2022, decision of the Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal recognising Ajay Choudhari as leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party (SSLP) in place of Shinde, calling it “illegal, unconstitutional”, and saying was taken with “bias”. They said Zirwal had taken the decision because his party, the NCP, was supporting the “minority faction” of the Sena led by Thackeray. The plea also challenged the disqualification notices served on Shinde and 15 MLAs supporting him on June 25 for not attending a party meeting convened by then-chief minister Thackeray. Relying on the 2016 Nabam Rebia ruling, the petition argued that Zirwal could not act on the disqualification petition against the 16 MLAs while a notice for a resolution seeking his removal was pending. In response, Zirwal told the court that the no-confidence motion against him was rejected as the genuineness or veracity of the notice could not be ascertained. On June 27, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala extended until July 12, 2022, the 48-hour window given by Zirwal to the 16 Shinde camp MLAs to reply to the disqualification notices served on them. The court, however, refused to restrain the holding of the floor test in the Assembly until July 11. Then Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari asked then CM Thackeray to face a floor test on June 30 to prove his majority. After the SC refused to stay the floor test, Thackeray resigned late on June 29. On June 30, Shinde was sworn in as the new CM of Maharashtra, with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as the Deputy Chief Minister. On July 3, BJP MLA Rahul Narwekar was elected the Speaker of the Assembly. The government led by Shinde won a trust vote on July 4. The rival factions then accused each other of defying the party whip on July 3 and July 4, and sought the disqualification of legislators from both sides. The Thackeray camp, through its general secretary Subhash Desai, then moved the Supreme Court challenging the Governor's appointment of Shinde as CM, and Narwekar's decision to recognise the Shinde group’s nominee as the party’s Chief Whip.
