NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to list next week a petition by Sharad Pawar faction of NCP challenging Maharashtra Speaker's decision to recognise Ajit Pawar faction as the real NCP while rejecting pleas for disqualification of breakaway group MLAs, who joined the Sena (Shinde)-BJP coalition government, under the anti-defection law.
Senior advocate made a mention of the petition before a bench led by CJI D Y Chandrachud and said Speaker Rahul Narwekar's decision on NCP rebel MLAs is worse than what he had done in the Sena split case. "How MLAs loyal to Sharad Pawar be subjected to the whip of Ajit Pawar group? This needs to be decided urgently as the Maharashtra Assembly session is scheduled to begin from Feb 20," he said.
The CJI agreed to list the petitions next week before an appropriate bench. Narwekar on Thursday had ruled that the Ajit Pawar-led group was the real Nationalist Congress Party among the two factions which emerged in the party in July 2023.
"The NCP constitution and the leadership structure of the party does not provide any clue to decide which is the real faction, hence, I have gone by the third yardstick which is legislative majority to decide the issue," Narwekar had said, adding, "The Sharad Pawar faction hasn't challenged the claim of legislative majority enjoyed by the Ajit Pawar faction."
Sharad Pawar group said that the NCP was founded, created, and taken to the present height politically through the efforts of the founder and that it was preposterous on the Speaker's part to assume that the Aji Pawar faction is the real NCP. It alleged that the Speaker has rendered the provisions of Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) otiose by his ruling and put premium on defection.
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.