Eknath Shinde Govt Not Immoral: Maha Speaker Rahul Narwekar Says 'Precedent on Whip Was Different So far'

As the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Speaker to take a final call on the disqualification of 16 MLAs of the Eknath Shinde faction “within reasonable time", Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar, who had before the verdict upheld the right of the Speaker to adjudicate, told CNN-News18 that the SC has spoken “rightly". The disqualification petition was filed by Sunil Prabhu, the Shiv Sena party whip appointed by Uddhav Thackeray, on June 23, 2022, after the MLAs revolted against him and went to Guwahati. And if you look at the provisions of Schedule 10, there is absolutely no clarity with regards to whether the whip should be appointed by the political party and, thus, in the scheme of things, a precedence has been followed in the Maharashtra state legislature, where a resolution is passed by the majority of the elected MLAs and accordingly a whip is recognised by the Speaker. The court has noted that your office didn’t take into account the two factions of the Shiv Sena while deciding on the matter and I am quoting, “The Speaker didn’t attempt to identify which of the two persons Mr Prabhu or Mr Gogawale was the whip that has been authorised by the political party".