The Supreme Court referred to a five-judge bench for constitutional questions arising from the cross petitions filed after the rebellion in Shiv Sena, leading to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra and instalation of the Eknath Shinde-led government with BJP’s support. A bench of former Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli said the five-judge bench would begin and restrained the Election Commission from passing any orders. The bench justified the reference on two counts; one, the important constitutional questions raised by the warring factions of Sena; and second, possible reconsideration of SC’s 2016 judgment in the Nabam Rebia case, where it had ruled that a speaker cannot decide disqualification petitions against MLAs if a petition for his removal is pending.
The bench said, “This court is of opinion that the present batch of petitions raise important constitutional questions relating to interpretation of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution pertaining to disqualification, as well as the powers of the Speaker and the Governor and the power of judicial review thereof. At the outset, it may be necessary to highlight one particular question raised in these matters relating to the power of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker to initiate disqualification proceedings, when proceedings for removal from the said office has been initiated against them. “We are, therefore, of the view that constitutional purpose and constitutional harmony would be maintained and preserved, if a Speaker refrains from adjudication of a petition for disqualification under the Tenth Schedule, whilst his own position, as the Speaker, is under challenge. This would also allow the two provisions to operate in their individual constitutional space, without encroaching on the other.”
