The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has approached the Supreme Court against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's decision to recognise the merger of six of its MPs with the rival faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
According to The Indian Express, the plea was filed by party leader Arvind Ganpat Sawant, with senior advocate Devadatt Kamat mentioning the matter before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, seeking an urgent hearing.
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"Six of these MPs decide unilaterally, without the merger of the original political party, and say we have merged with the rival. We contested against that political party," Kamat submitted, according to the report.
When the CJI questioned the urgency, Kamat told the bench, "The urgency is that my functioning as a political party in Parliament has come to an absolute standstill," adding that the MPs were no longer aligned with the party since the Speaker had recognised their merger with another outfit. The CJI, the report said, did not commit to listing the matter this week, saying only, "Will see."
Birla had recognised the merger of six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs — Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Patil, Sanjay Deshmukh, Omraje Nimbalkar, Nagesh Patil Ashtikar and Bhausaheb Wakchaure — with the Shinde faction on 18 July, two days before the Monsoon Session began.
Sawant's petition reportedly challenges this circular as "ex-facie unconstitutional, illegal, and perverse."
The plea reportedly argues that the six MPs had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on tickets and the symbol belonging to Shiv Sena (UBT), with the party's organisation and leadership having invested resources in securing their victories.
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It further contends that voters in these constituencies had reposed faith in Uddhav Thackeray's leadership, with the 2024 campaign fought against "usurpation of the legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray by Eknath Shinde through illegal means."
According to the report, the petition describes the Speaker's circular as amounting to "constitutional hara-kiri" that "weakens the very foundation of our parliamentary democracy," urging the court to strike it down and prevent the MPs from "undermining the democratic framework by functioning in the House in collusion with rival political parties."
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