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Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Nearly 10 months after the Maharashtra Shiv Sena disqualification case came up in the Supreme Court, Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar has been given the last opportunity by the apex court to deliver his order by January 10.
The disqualification petitions arose out of the previous year’s split in Shiv Sena, with one faction joining the BJP to form government in the state. “The orders have to come by January 10,” said a bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
The top court had earlier asked him to decide the disqualification pleas by December 31, saying the sanctity of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution (disqualification law) should be maintained. “The Speaker has indicated that the proceedings will be closed on December 20 and the Speaker has sought a reasonable extension of time for declaration of the order. Bearing in mind the time limit, which was set out by this court in its previous order dated October 30, was until December 31. We grant an extension for pronouncement of orders till January 10,” said the bench.
The court noted in the record the submissions of the solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Speaker. The SG said he was taking time because there were lakhs of documents that had to be examined thoroughly, requiring additional time. Therefore, the Speaker needs more time to decide the disqualification pleas against rebel MLAs of Shiv Sena and the NCP.
“The Speaker has said that on December 20, the judgment would be reserved and no further time would be taken. Hearings took place even during the Assembly Session. There are 2,71,000 pages,” he said. Opposing Mehta’s submissions, senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the Uddhav Thackeray group said the court should not grant them more time.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by MLA Sunil Prabhu of Uddhav Thackeray’s group of Shiv Sena, seeking direction to the Speaker to take an expeditious decision on the disqualification petitions pending against rebel Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde, the current chief minister. The state elections are due next year, nearly six months after the parliamentary polls.
Also in top court
Justice Kishan Kaul hangs up his bootsFriday was the last working day of the second seniormost judge of the country’s apex court, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul. He was set to retire on December 25, but the winter vacation starts on December 16. On his last day in court, Kaul said that as a society we must have tolerance for each other and learn to live with each other. “Globally tolerance has gone down. It’s time that we learn to live with each other, so that world turns a better place,” he said.
‘List damage to places of worship’The Supreme Court on Friday asked the strife-torn Manipur’s government to apprise within two weeks the court-appointed committe about what kind of steps it had taken to restore and maintain a secure environment at the places of worship that were vandalised during the ethnic violence. A three-judge bench also asked the state government to furnish a detailed list of the damaged religious structures. Follow channel on WhatsApp
NEW DELHI: Nearly 10 months after the Maharashtra Shiv Sena disqualification case came up in the Supreme Court, Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar has been given the last opportunity by the apex court to deliver his order by January 10.
The disqualification petitions arose out of the previous year’s split in Shiv Sena, with one faction joining the BJP to form government in the state. “The orders have to come by January 10,” said a bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
The top court had earlier asked him to decide the disqualification pleas by December 31, saying the sanctity of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution (disqualification law) should be maintained. “The Speaker has indicated that the proceedings will be closed on December 20 and the Speaker has sought a reasonable extension of time for declaration of the order. Bearing in mind the time limit, which was set out by this court in its previous order dated October 30, was until December 31. We grant an extension for pronouncement of orders till January 10,” said the bench.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
The court noted in the record the submissions of the solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Speaker. The SG said he was taking time because there were lakhs of documents that had to be examined thoroughly, requiring additional time. Therefore, the Speaker needs more time to decide the disqualification pleas against rebel MLAs of Shiv Sena and the NCP.
“The Speaker has said that on December 20, the judgment would be reserved and no further time would be taken. Hearings took place even during the Assembly Session. There are 2,71,000 pages,” he said. Opposing Mehta’s submissions, senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the Uddhav Thackeray group said the court should not grant them more time.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by MLA Sunil Prabhu of Uddhav Thackeray’s group of Shiv Sena, seeking direction to the Speaker to take an expeditious decision on the disqualification petitions pending against rebel Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde, the current chief minister. The state elections are due next year, nearly six months after the parliamentary polls.
Also in top court
Justice Kishan Kaul hangs up his boots
Friday was the last working day of the second seniormost judge of the country’s apex court, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul. He was set to retire on December 25, but the winter vacation starts on December 16. On his last day in court, Kaul said that as a society we must have tolerance for each other and learn to live with each other. “Globally tolerance has gone down. It’s time that we learn to live with each other, so that world turns a better place,” he said.
‘List damage to places of worship’
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the strife-torn Manipur’s government to apprise within two weeks the court-appointed committe about what kind of steps it had taken to restore and maintain a secure environment at the places of worship that were vandalised during the ethnic violence. A three-judge bench also asked the state government to furnish a detailed list of the damaged religious structures. Follow channel on WhatsApp
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