On Tuesday, Eknath Shinde’s faction of the Shiv Sena party declared their right to the party’s name and symbol. The group, led by the Maharashtra Chief Minister, emphasized that a legislature party is integral and organically connected to the political party.
A senior lawyer, Kaul informed a five-member Constitution bench representing the Shinde faction that leaders from the opposite camp had lost all faith in the government.
A five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha was dealing with an issue related to the Maharashtra political crisis.
On Wednesday, Senior Advocate NK Kaul replied to the court that he would address this matter.
The court asked several questions to the Shinde camp on various issues and legal aspects on various judgements and sought to know how to separate defection and floor tests.
Justice Chandrachud remarked that if the cause of initiating a floor test is due to a breach of the tenth schedule, then conducting the floor test at that point will nullify the entire rationale and intent of the tenth schedule. The court further inquired whether they are authorizing a defection which is otherwise not allowed by the tenth schedule.
The advocate responded that their case does not involve a split under the Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Instead, they are discussing a rival faction within a party. They claim that their camp is the Shiv Sena.
At the hearing, the court remarked that the issue which led to the need for a floor test was the reported defections and noted that this is an issue since the trust vote is intertwined with the disqualification proceedings.
Kaul, a Senior Advocate, declared that this is a disagreement within the party and that the Shinde group is part of the Shiv Sena faction, a decision that the Election Commission of India will make. When it comes to a floor test, it is only related to determining if the Chief Minister has the support of the majority, Kaul said.
On Tuesday, the hearing on the matter was inconclusive, and the case was adjourned until Wednesday. Uddhav Thackeray’s camp had previously argued that the other side had no grounds to stand on under the Tenth Schedule.
In connection to the Maharashtra political conflict, A five-judge Constitution bench listened to an array of petitions filed by opponent sides, Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The Supreme Court’s Constitution bench decides whether to refer cases related to the Maharashtra political crisis to a larger seven-judge bench for reconsideration of a 2016 Nabam Rebia judgment. This judgment concerns the powers of Assembly Speakers to deal with disqualification pleas.
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