Notice is not legal, say experts
Sixteen Shiv Sena MLAs have been served notice by the Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The MLAs rebelled along with Eknath Shinde. The legislators are required to submit their reply by 5.30 pm on Monday.
Legal experts are of the opinion that the rebel legislators cannot be disqualified by the Deputy Speaker, as the issue is an internal matter of the Shiv Sena party. The party can take action against the rebel members.
Meanwhile, Eknath Shinde and his associates are known to have approached the Supreme Court against the notice.
Shinde and others revolted against party whip in the polling for ten Legislative Council posts. The polling was held on June 20. In the afternoon Shinde left the Vidhan Bhavan and planned the revolt against the party chief and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. He along with his supporters left Mumbai and shifted to Surat in Gujarat. The fraction in Shiv Sena left the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in minority and collapse of the government was obvious.
Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal was handed over a representation by the Shiv Sena (Thackeray) group demanding disqualification of the rebel legislators. The notice was served by him accordingly.
In an interview with a news channel, former Advocate General Shrihari Aney stated that the issue being an internal matter of the Shiv Sena party, the Deputy Speaker is not empowered to disqualify them. The issue is not related to proceedings of the House. The rebel candidates may get relief if they move the court.
