NCP Rift | Supreme Court Issues Notice On Plea Of Sharad Pawar Group Against Maharashtra Speaker's Refusal To Disqualify Ajit Pawar Faction

The Supreme Court on Monday (July 29) issued notice in the petition filed by Sharad Pawar's NCP Faction challenging the refusal of the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to disqualify members of the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.

The bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra clarified that the contentions about the maintainability of the Petition will be decided along with the merits at the stage of final disposal of the case. 

The Court also clarified that the challenge will be heard along with the pending petition of Shiv Sena (Udhav Thackery Faction) which challenges the speaker's refusal to disqualify the MLAs belonging to Eknath Shinde group.

"We will issue notice, all objections including on grounds of maintainability will be decided at final disposal. Liberty to serve the other respondents with dasti. 

The petitioners were represented by Senior Advocate Dr. AM Singhvi. 

It may be recalled that in February the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar refused to disqualify MLAs who supported Ajit Pawar following the rift. 

The Speaker relied on the ECI's verdict recognising Ajit Pawar's faction was the real NCP.  It may be noted that Sharad Pawar group's petition challenging the ECI decision is pending in the Supreme Court.

While refusing to hold the actions of Ajit Pawar group as amounting to "defection" as per the tenth schedule of the Constitution, Speaker Narwekar opined that they were in the nature of intra-party dissent within the NCP and the members of the party stood divided between two leaders i.e. Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar. “Questioning the decision of Sharad Pawar and going against his wishes cannot be said as an act of defection or of leaving the party. It is a dissent expressed by the members of the NCP,” he ruled.

 Genesis Of The NCP Rift

The issue arose when a section led by Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel broke ranks with the NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and joined hands with the BJP and Shinde Sena. Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister and 8 other NCP MLAs took oath as Ministers in the Eknath Shinde-led government in July 2023.

The official NCP reacted by moving a disqualification petition against Ajit Pawar and the 8 MLAs who joined Shinde Government. In return, Ajit Pawar claimed that he had the support of majority of NCP MLAs and that he represents the 'real' NCP. Praful Patel announced the appointment of Ajit Pawar (who was the leader of opposition till July1) as the leader of the NCP legislative party in the assembly. Currently, the Election Commission of India is hearing a petition filed by Ajit Pawar faction, staking its claim to the NCP party's name and its election symbol. 

Petitions were also filed by the Ajit Pawar faction. Initially, the Supreme Court gave a deadline of January 31, 2024, for the Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions. However, the Supreme Court extended the timeline for the Speaker until February 15.

Case Details : JAYANT PATIL VS. AJIT ANANTRAO PAWAR SLP(C) No. 007957 - 007959 / 2024

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