Eknath Shinde-Uddhav tussle: Constitution bench of SC to hear Shiv Sena pleas on August 25

The Supreme Court on Tuesday referred the petitions filed by the Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray factions of Shiv Sena to a 5-judge Constitution bench. While Shinde and the group of rebel MLAs were the first ones to move the apex court against the disqualification notice issued by Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, the Thackeray faction challenged the new government formation and the Speaker's election. An SC bench comprising CJI NV Ramana, Justices Hima Kohli and CT Ravikumar directed that the matter will come up for hearing on August 25 itself.

The Constitution bench will look into various questions arising from the rebellion in Shiv Sena such as the application of the 10th Schedule; powers and duties of the Speaker in dealing with disqualification petitions and the power of the Election Commission of India when there is a rift in the party. The SC also ordered the EC to not take any action till Thursday on the application filed by the Maharashtra CM's camp for recognition as the 'real Shiv Sena' and the allotment of the 'bow and arrow' symbol to it. It specified that the Constitution bench will decide about the EC proceedings at the beginning. 

Here are the key pleas filed by Shiv Sena factions:

• Eknath Shinde and 15 other MLAs challenged the disqualification proceedings initiated against them and Shinde's replacement as the Legislative Party leader with Ajay Choudhari. The SC extended the time granted by Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal to respond to the disqualification notice until July 12.
• Uddhav Thackeray faction's chief whip Sunil Prabhu sought a stay on the floor test scheduled for June 30. The SC refused to interfere at that juncture after which the Shiv Sena president stepped down as the Chief Minister.
• A day after Eknath Shinde took oath as the CM of Maharashtra, Prabhu filed an interlocutory application seeking the interim suspension of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs until the final adjudication of the disqualification proceedings against them. However, the SC denied any urgent relief on July 1.
• Minutes before the vote of confidence on July 4, the Thackeray camp challenged newly-elected Speaker Rahul Narwekar's decision to reinstate Eknath Shinde as the Shiv Sena Legislature Party leader and replace Prabhu as the Chief Whip with Bharat Gogawale. Once again, the SC did not grant interim relief.
• On July 8, the Uddhav Thackeray camp challenged the decision of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to invite Shinde to form the government citing that he and the rebels are liable to be disqualified as they haven't merged with any other party. They also urged the SC to quash the Speaker's election and vote of confidence which was conducted on July 3 and 4 respectively.