Collusion between judge, accused: Uddhav targets speaker ahead of ruling

The Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said his party has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court objecting to a meeting between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar before the crucial verdict on disqualification petitions against rival Sena MLAs, including the CM.

Narkwekar is scheduled to deliver his ruling at 4 pm on January 10, a deadline set by the Supreme Court, more than 18 months after the Shiv Sena suffered a split, leading to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government headed by Thackeray.

"If the judge (Narwekar) is going to meet the accused, what should we expect from that judge," Thackeray asked, speaking to the media at his residence `Matoshree' in Mumbai.

The affidavit before the SC was filed on Monday, a day after the meeting, he said.

Thackeray's ally and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar, too, said that when someone who is hearing a case meets the person against whom the case is being heard, it "leaves room for doubt".

Hitting back, Narwekar said Thackeray, a former chief minister, should know for what purposes a speaker could meet a chief minister.

"If he still levels such allegations, then his motive is very clear. There is no rule that a speaker, while hearing disqualification pleas, cannot do any other work," Narwekar said, alluding to Thackeray trying to pressurise him ahead of the ruling on disqualification pleas.

The speaker met Shinde at `Varsha', the chief minister's official residence in south Mumbai on Sunday. Thackeray noted the two had met in October last year, too.

Narwekar's ruling will decide whether "democracy exists in the country or not" or whether the two (speaker and chief minister) will "murder" democracy, he said.

"We have filed an affidavit asking whether there is collusion between the judge and the accused," Thackeray said, asking whether there would be further delay by the speaker in giving the ruling.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) president said the speaker never goes to meet the chief minister, asserting it is the former who summons the latter.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab said such meetings must be brought to the Supreme Court's notice as it was a serious issue.

"We hope the apex court takes this matter seriously," Parab added.

Upset over the Shiv Sena (UBT)'s attack, Narwekar said, "As the speaker, I have to discharge work related to the assembly and chief minister is also part of it. As an MLA, I also have to address the issues related to my constituency. There are other issues related to the state and if resolving them requires meeting the head of the government, then I don't think I need anyone's permission."

Narwekar, a lawyer by training, was elected to the state assembly from Colaba in south Mumbai on a BJP ticket. He is a first-time MLA.

The speaker said as many as 34 petitions were filed and documents running into 2.5 lakh pages produced before his office during the hearing.

Narwekar also said efforts were on to deliver verdict on disqualification petitions of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs by January 30. The Sharad Pawar-founded party suffered a split in July 2023 when a section of MLAs, led by now deputy CM Ajit Pawar, joined the Shinde-led government.

In June 2022, Shinde and 39 other Shiv Sena MLAs, out of the total 56 legislators, had rebelled against then-chief minister Thackeray, leading to a split in the 57-year-old party and subsequent fall of the MVA government which also comprised the NCP and the Congress.

Later, cross-petitions were filed by the Shinde and Thackeray factions before the speaker's office seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs under anti-defection laws.

The apex court in May last year had directed the speaker to adjudicate on the pleas expeditiously.

The SC initially set a deadline of December 31, 2023, for the speaker to deliver his verdict and later  extended the date to January 10, 2024.