The Supreme Court pulled up Rahul Narwekar on October 13 over the delay in deciding the matter and asked him to submit a revised schedule for the hearings by October 30. (File photo)
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Even as the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena strongly objected to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s meeting on Wednesday with Speaker Rahul Narvekar, whom the Supreme Court has criticised twice for delaying the MLA disqualification proceedings, the ruling Shiv Sena faction defended it on Thursday.
Constitutional experts, however, said the speaker had violated norms and created doubts about his position. The speaker is currently hearing the matter related to the disqualification of MLAs loyal to Shinde. The Supreme Court pulled him up on October 13 over the delay in deciding the matter and asked him to submit a revised schedule for the hearings by October 30.
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The NCP said in an official statement, “Rahul Narvekar is hearing the disqualification case of MLAs. His position currently is that of a tribunal. He cannot interact or hold meetings with the accused. This is illegal and unconstitutional. We strongly condemn the behaviour of the Assembly speaker, who despite being rapped by the Supreme Court twice is refusing to mend his ways.”
Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “Rahul Narvekar should remember that he is a judge who is heading a quasi-judicial body. He has to hold hearings and decide the matter. He cannot discuss with the accused what punishment is suitable for them. Narvekar is making a mockery of our Constitution. The SC has rapped him twice, but he remains unfazed. This is absolutely ridiculous. We will be bringing this blatant violation of the Constitution to the notice of the apex court.”
Constitutional expert Ulhas Bapat criticised the meeting. “Any judge or quasi-judicial body should not meet the accused against whom they are holding a trial. If a judge goes and meets the accused in such a case, then it amounts to meeting the murderer. Narvekar’s behaviour is unacceptable. It should be remembered that a speaker has several restrictions, especially when he is acting as a quasi-judicial official. In England, the quasi-judicial officer is not supposed to speak to the media. Here he is regularly speaking to the media. As a teacher of constitutional law, I am completely shocked by Narvekar’s behaviour,” he said.
“The speaker is already under pressure after being rapped by the apex court twice. If he doesn’t submit the revised schedule by the deadline, the Supreme Court might take over the case,” Bapat added.
Manisha Kayande, a spokesperson for the Shinde-led Sena, said, “’I don’t know whether they have met. But if they have met, what is wrong in it? They might have met to discuss issues related to the state and the legislature. There are so many issues other than those related to the disqualification case. The chief minister is within his jurisdiction to discuss such issues with the speaker.”
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Asked about the criticism from Supriya Sule, Kayande said, “’Supriya Sule should first put her house in order. The NCP is struggling to stay afloat and their leaders are making confusing noises.”
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
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