Opposition parties in Maharashtra, including the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena (UBT), and Congress accused assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar of deliberately delaying the decision on the pleas seeking disqualification of rebel Shiv Sena and NCP MLAs, and said he should decide on the matter within a specified timeframe.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said the speaker is expected to not just discharge the role of a speaker, but also act as a tribunal. The hope is that he works in a free and fair manner. He has to work in a specific time frame and deliver justice. Justice delayed is justice denied, he said, accusing him of wasting time.
Referring to the apex court’s observations, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut told reporters in Nashik that the government led by Eknath Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar would collapse in the next 72 hours. This government will go in 72 hours. I had said earlier also. Now, the time has come. The assembly speaker put the government in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and tried to save it, but now the time has come for the speaker himself to go to the ICU, the Rajya Sabha member said.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Sharad Pawar sought the Supreme Court’s directions to Narwekar to decide on the disqualification pleas of Shiv Sena and NCP MLAs within a specific time frame. He alleged that there was a delay on the part of the speaker in taking decision on the pleas, and that was why the NCP also approached the apex court.
Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said the Supreme Court has passed another stricture against speaker Rahul Narwekar indicating clearly that he is deliberately delaying a decision on the Shiv Sena split that happened one-and-a-half years ago.
The Supreme Court on Friday came down hard on the Maharashtra assembly speaker for the delay in deciding the plea for disqualification of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and several MLAs, saying the speaker cannot defeat the orders of the top court.
Somebody has to advise the Speaker that he cannot defeat the orders of the Supreme Court, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said and asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to apprise the court about the timeline for deciding the issue.