Supreme Court to hear Uddhav faction's plea against speaker's order from April 8

Uddhav Vs Shinde

The Supreme Court will from April 8 begin hearing a plea by the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena that challenges Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar's order declaring the rival bloc led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as the "real political party" after its split in June 2022.

Shinde faction has to file its response by April 1, the court said on March 7.

The speaker's order violated the court's May order in the case, the Thackarey faction, represented by senior advocates Kapil Sibal, AM Singhvi and Devdatt Kamat.

The apex court, and not the Bombay High Court, should hear the case, it said.

Appearing for the Shinde group, senior advocates Harish Salve, Mukul Rohatgi and Mahesh Jethmalani said the Bombay High Court should hear the case as their plea was filed before the Thackarey faction moved SC.

There were many facets to the case involving forgery of documents and other evidentiary issues which only a high court could hear, it argued.

The Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud-led bench, however, agreed to hear the case.

In January, Narwekar also rejected the Thackeray faction's plea to disqualify 16 MLAs of the ruling camp, including Shinde.

The ruling cemented Shinde's position as the chief minister, 18 months after he led a rebellion against Thackeray and also strengthened his factions position in the ruling coalition, which also has the BJP and the NCP (Ajit Pawar group).

The state, which has had seen a fair share of political drama, is due for assembly elections at the end of the year.

The Election Commission had given the 'Shiv Sena' name and 'bow and arrow' symbol to the Shinde-led faction in early 2023 after the party’s split.