New Delhi, 30 July (H.S.): A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Thursday directed that the next hearing in the matter concerning the recognition of the merger of six Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) MPs with the Eknath Shinde faction will be held on August 4.

During the hearing of the petition challenging the decision of the Lok Sabha Speaker, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uddhav Thackeray faction, said that a growing trend has emerged where leaders win elections on one party’s symbol and later claim allegiance to another party or faction. He argued that such developments have a serious impact on parliamentary democracy.

During his submissions, Sibal said that after the death of Balasaheb Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray took over the leadership of Shiv Sena and carried forward the party’s legacy. He said the party contested the 2019 elections under Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership, and Eknath Shinde became a minister in the government headed by Uddhav Thackeray in 2019.

Sibal argued that had the petition filed by the Uddhav faction been heard in time, the formation of the Shinde government could have been prevented. He further said that during the subsequent Legislative Council elections, cross-voting took place, following which the party suspected that the Eknath Shinde faction was pursuing a separate strategy.

He said that soon after, 31 MLAs suddenly moved to Guwahati, where they passed a resolution removing the then party whip Sunil Prabhu and appointing Bharat Gogawale as the new whip. Sibal claimed that the resolution was passed only by those 31 MLAs and not by the entire party.

He further stated that the letter regarding the resolution was sent to the Assembly Speaker, who later forwarded it to the Governor. Soon after, the Governor directed a floor test in the Assembly. Sibal argued that since Uddhav Thackeray was the party chief at that time, the legislators could not claim that they represented the entire political party.

Questioning the legality of the move, Sibal asked whether members of a legislative party alone could declare themselves as the entire political party. He argued that such a step goes against the spirit of the anti-defection law.

On July 22, the Supreme Court had refused to grant an immediate stay on the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision recognising the merger of six MPs from the Uddhav faction with the Eknath Shinde faction. The court had, however, issued notice to the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

In its petition, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) has argued that the Lok Sabha Speaker recognised the merger of six of its MPs with a rival party faction, raising a constitutional issue. The Speaker approved the merger on the night of July 18. Following the merger of the six MPs, the strength of the Shinde faction in the Lok Sabha increased to 13 MPs. The Uddhav faction has claimed that the Speaker’s decision has affected the functioning of the party in Parliament.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar