The Supreme Court in the case Jayant Patil v The Speaker Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly observed and has extended the time for the Maharashtra Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions filed by the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, NCP against the Ajit Pawar faction.
The bench comprising of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra in the case observed and has agreed to extend the time till February 15, 2024.
The court in the case observed and has directed the Speaker to decide as per the tenth schedule of the Constitution of India by January 31, 2024.
The court stated that the Speaker approached the Supreme Court seeking three weeks’ additional time, which being two days ahead of the expiry of the deadline.
The counsel, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta said that since the Speaker was occupied with deciding the disqualification petitions filed over the Shiv Sena rift, he being not in a position to comply with the timeline.
Further, the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta stated that the proceedings are otherwise over and the Speaker “realistically” needs three more weeks to dictate the order.
The Supreme Court in the case observed and has set the deadline in a writ petition filed by NCP Sharad Pawar) group member wherein it seeks to direct the Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions filed against Ajit Pawar group.
In the present case, the said issue arose when a section led by Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel broke ranks with the NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and joined hands with the BJP and Shinde Sena. Thus, Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister and 8 other NCP MLAs took oath as Ministers in the Eknath Shinde-led government in July in the year 2023.
The court while considering the facts and circumstances of the case stated that the official NCP reacted by moving a disqualification petition against Ajit Pawar and the 8 MLAs who joined Shinde Government and it has been claimed by Ajit Pawar that he had the support of majority of NCP MLAs and that he represents the ‘real’ NCP.
Further, the Praful Patel announced the appointment of Ajit Pawar, who being the leader of opposition till July1 as the leader of the NCP legislative party in the assembly. At present, the Election Commission of India is hearing the petition filed by Ajit Pawar faction, staking its claim to the NCP party’s name and its election symbol.