In a significant legal development, the Supreme Court has agreed to list the plea filed by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena challenging the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker's decision to dismiss its disqualification petition against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other MLAs.

The plea, presented by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal before a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, had previously not been listed as directed.

The Supreme Court had earlier issued notice on January 22, 2024, in the plea filed by Sunil Prabhu, a member of the Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray, challenging the Speaker's dismissal of disqualification petitions. The party has raised questions about the Speaker's decision, particularly concerning the alleged deviation from the party's constitution regarding the 2018 leadership structure.

Describing the Speaker's decisions as "unlawful and perverse," the Shiv Sena argued that they were based on the erroneous finding that the majority of legislators represented the will of the political party, thus rendering them immune to disqualification. The party contended that this interpretation goes against the Tenth Schedule and misinterprets the Supreme Court's judgment in 'Subhash Desai Vs Governor of Maharashtra' (2022).

The Shiv Sena also brought attention to the Assembly Speaker's meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on January 7, just before pronouncing the verdict in the disqualification petitions. The party termed this meeting as "highly improper."

The Supreme Court, in previous interactions with the case, had given a 'last chance' to the Maharashtra Speaker to establish a schedule for hearing the pending disqualification petitions. The Court had expressed its dissatisfaction with the Speaker's public statements, emphasizing that the judiciary is a co-equal branch of the government, and urged the Speaker to fulfill his responsibilities.

Earlier, on October 13, 2023, the Supreme Court had directed the Speaker to hear the disqualification petitions on a day-to-day basis and resolve them before the upcoming elections.

Case: Sunil Prabhu vs. The Speaker, Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly.