New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday cast doubt on the law laid down in its 2016 ruling in the Nabam Rebia case, which held that the speaker of an assembly cannot initiate disqualification proceedings when his own position is subject to challenge.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana said it was important to settle the issue with respect to the powers of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker when he is facing a no-confidence petition.
The court made the remarks when it referred the dispute between Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde factions to a constitution bench.
“The proposal for legislation laid down by the Constitutional Bench in Nabam Rebia stands on contradictory reasons, which need to be filled in order to maintain constitutional morality. Thus, the question is referred to the Constitution Bench for the exercise of filling the necessary gaps. is,” the bench said.
The Constitution Bench will hear the matter on August 25.
It will first consider the interim relief sought by the Thackeray group to stay the proceedings before the Election Commission, which is considering the request of the Shinde faction to recognize it as the official Shiv Sena, the CJI’s bench laid down its order. Said while doing
Till then, the top court said, the Election Commission will not take any action on Shinde’s plea.
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Five petitions will be heard
With Tuesday’s order, a constitution bench will hear five petitions related to the political crisis in Maharashtra. One of the petitions includes a petition by Shinde and 15 other rebel MLAs, who challenged the disqualification notices issued to them by the then deputy speaker.
On June 27, the bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice JB Pardiwala gave time to the rebel MLAs to file written replies on these petitions. Following this order, Thackeray resigned and Shinde took over the reins of the new government in Maharashtra with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Then two petitions have been filed by Shiv Sena MP Sunil Prabhu, who was the party’s chief whip during the Thackeray regime. While the first challenges the governor’s direction to the chief minister to prove the majority of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the second questions the action of the newly-elected president to recognize the Shinde group candidate as the chief whip of the army.
The fourth petition was filed by Shiv Sena general secretary Subhash Desai, criticizing the Maharashtra governor’s decision to invite Shinde as the new chief minister.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court prepared 11 important questions of law for the consideration of the Constitution Bench. The first question pertains to the power of the Speaker when a notice of removal is given against him. The second raises the issue whether the Constitution invites judgments on disqualification proceedings by the High Courts or the Supreme Court.
The third question read, “Can a court hold that a member has been disqualified on the ground of his actions, absent the decision of the Speaker.” Fourth is based on the status of proceedings in the House during the pendency of disqualification petitions against the members.
The questions also seek more clarity on the status of proceedings against an MLA during the pendency of a disqualification petition, if the Speaker is of the view that the MLA is disqualified from the date on which the petition was moved.
The Constitution Bench will also decide on the scope of the Speaker’s power to determine the whip of the Legislature Party and the Leader of the House, and the interaction with respect to the Tenth Schedule which talks about the anti-defection law.
In addition, the larger bench will also look into the scope of judicial review in intra-party questions – the decision of the governor to invite an individual to form the government and the powers of the Election Commission to prevent unilateral divisions within a party.
(Edited by Tony Rae)
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