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In the wake of the petition filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Sunil Prabhu in the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Maharashtra State Assembly Speaker to expeditiously decide the disqualification appeal against the rebel Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde, Rahul Narvekar on Monday told the court It cannot dictate a time frame for a decision on this matter.
The court may not dictate to the President of the Legislative Council a time frame for deciding on the matter. Even if that happens, I have the right not to accept the notice to that effect. Yes, the court can decide once I take the decision, but the court cannot order the Speaker and force him to take a decision,” Narvekar told reporters here.
Narvikar said notifications have been sent to MLAs from both Sena camps and if he gets a petition asking for extra time to respond, he will decide on it based on the content of the request.
While the Speaker has not yet dealt with the rift in Sina, he is also facing the issue of rebellion within the NCP. Party leader Ajit Pawar along with eight other leaders was sworn in as ministers in the current state government on 2 July.
Opposing the move, NCP President Sharad Pawar’s support group, led by Jayant Patil, petitioned Narvekar demanding suspension of nine NCP MLAs, including Ajit Pawar.
Narvirkar said Patel had also filed a petition for the “temporary suspension” of these nine NCP ministers. The petition claims that the group has gone against the party line. He said, “Patil’s petition asks the Speaker to temporarily suspend Ajit Pawar’s faction for violating party lines.”
However, sources in the House Speaker’s office said such a petition was indefensible. “No decision has been taken on the first petition filed by Patel. There is no provision called provisional suspension; hence the Speaker cannot uphold such a petition,” said an official.
Proposal to build a new assembly
Narvekar said on Monday that he intends to move a proposal to build a new assembly building to be modeled on the Central Vista in New Delhi. “The current building does not have the capacity to host mutual legal aid offices after the association seats are reorganized. We have a plan to build a new campus that will cover the existing parking lot. A proposal to that effect will be conveyed to the concerned department soon.”
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