Uddhav Thackeray camp knocks Supreme Court doors against Shiv Sena chief whip appointment

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on July 11 a fresh plea of the Uddhav Thackeray faction

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has approached the Supreme Court on Monday against a decision by the newly elected Speaker of the Maharashtra assembly to give recognition to the whip nominated by the Eknath Shinde faction as the chief whip of the party.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the plea before a bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and J K Maheshwari for urgent listing.

He said the Speaker has got no jurisdiction to recognise Bharat Gogawale as the whip nominated by Shinde as Thackeray is still the head of Shiv Sena political party.

It is the party not the Speaker that recognises the whip, he said.

Also Read | Ahead of floor test, Shinde gets Sena's reins in House

Singhvi also pointed out that earlier Shinde group had challenged the appointment of Shiv Sena official whip Sunil Prabhu, but the court declined to pass any interim order.

He also claimed the Speaker's decision on Sunday meant changing the status quo of proceedings before the top court.

The court agreed to put the matter for consideration on July 11, along with others pending petitions.

The BJP's nominee Rahul Narwekar was on Sunday elected the new Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

On Monday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, won the vote of confidence.

On July 1, Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu approached the top court seeking a direction to suspend from House, Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde and 15 other MLAs till a final decision is taken on their disqualification.

On June 29, the court had refused to stay the Maharashtra Governor's direction to hold a floor test in Assembly on June 30, in an endgame to Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, after a rebellion by Eknath Shinde and 48 other MLAs.