NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sent a notice to NCP‘s Ajit Pawar faction on a plea filed by leader Jayant Patil from the other faction seeking the disqualification of Ajit Pawar group MLAs for defection and joining Sena-BJP government.
This response from the top court comes after the Sharad Pawar faction challenged Maharashtra Speaker‘s order rejecting pleas for disqualification of Ajit group MLAs under anti-defection law.
In February this year, Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled that the Ajit Pawar-led group was the real Nationalist Congress Party when two factions emerged in the party in July 2023. Narwekar cited the legislative majority enjoyed by Ajit Pawar over Sharad Pawar to pronounce his verdict.
“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 said.
“The Sharad Pawar faction hasn’t challenged the claim of legislative majority enjoyed by the Ajit Pawar faction,” he added. “All the petitions seeking disqualification of MLAs are rejected,” Narwekar further said.
The speaker said that the split within the NCP on June 20, 2023, was a result of intra-party dissent among the 41 MLAs of the Ajit Pawar faction and not desertion of the NCP political party. He also said that deserting a leader does not equate to deserting the party.
Besides, Narwekar also rebuffed attempts by the Sharad Pawar faction to employ Schedule 10 as a means to silence members of the party. He said that the 10th Schedule is not a device for settling intra-party dissent and cautioned against its misuse to stifle political disagreements.
“When a tussle for leadership arises, the common party workers cannot remain onlookers and they are compelled to choose sides. The speaker’s office cannot be used to quell opposition,” Narwekar said.
This response from the top court comes after the Sharad Pawar faction challenged Maharashtra Speaker‘s order rejecting pleas for disqualification of Ajit group MLAs under anti-defection law.
In February this year, Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled that the Ajit Pawar-led group was the real Nationalist Congress Party when two factions emerged in the party in July 2023. Narwekar cited the legislative majority enjoyed by Ajit Pawar over Sharad Pawar to pronounce his verdict.
“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 said.
“The Sharad Pawar faction hasn’t challenged the claim of legislative majority enjoyed by the Ajit Pawar faction,” he added. “All the petitions seeking disqualification of MLAs are rejected,” Narwekar further said.
The speaker said that the split within the NCP on June 20, 2023, was a result of intra-party dissent among the 41 MLAs of the Ajit Pawar faction and not desertion of the NCP political party. He also said that deserting a leader does not equate to deserting the party.
Besides, Narwekar also rebuffed attempts by the Sharad Pawar faction to employ Schedule 10 as a means to silence members of the party. He said that the 10th Schedule is not a device for settling intra-party dissent and cautioned against its misuse to stifle political disagreements.
“When a tussle for leadership arises, the common party workers cannot remain onlookers and they are compelled to choose sides. The speaker’s office cannot be used to quell opposition,” Narwekar said.