For more than a year and a half now, Speaker Rahul Narwekar has kept the decision pending till his hand was forced by SC. What he decides will set the stage for further court battles and political positioning ahead of elections
Sunil Prabhu, a member of the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena, was cross-examined recently during the hearing of petitions before the Maharashtra Speaker to disqualify rebel Shiv Sena legislators.
The judgment failed to right the wrongs that the Supreme Court detected in the Shiv Sena split. But if SC upholds the spirit of the judgment in future cases and its larger bench clarifies quickly whether a Speaker served with removal notice by defectors can adjudicate disqualification proceedings it will do a world of good
The Supreme Court bench is expected to decide whether Eknath Shinde and 15 other Shiv Sena MLAs could be disqualified for revolting against then CM Uddhav Thackeray in June last year.