Supreme Court to hear pleas of rival Shiv Sena camps on July 20
Hindustan TimesThe Supreme Court is expected to hear on July 20 a bunch of petitions relating to the recent political developments in Maharashtra that saw a rift in Shiv Sena, followed by the resignation of Uddhav Thackeray and rebel leader Eknath Shinde taking over as the chief minister. On July 11, CJI Ramana asked Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar to suspend the disqualification proceedings pending against the MLAs of Shiv Sena, belonging to both Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray factions until the court hears the matter next. The interim order passed by the Supreme Court on June 27 had put in abeyance the disqualification petitions pending against Shinde and 15 other MLAs till July 12. While the first two petitions in the Supreme Court were filed by the Shinde faction to stop the deputy speaker from disqualifying them as MLAs, the Uddhav-camp also approached the apex court later, challenging the actions of the governor in directing Uddhav to prove the majority on the floor of the House as well as inviting Shinde to form the government in the state.