Maharashtra Speaker gets extension till February 15 to decide on NCP MLAs disqualification

The Supreme Court on Monday granted an extension to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar until February 15 to decide on the pleas from the Sharad Pawar faction, which seeks the disqualification of the NCP MLAs associated with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's group.

"In his order dated January 25, the speaker has indicated that cross-examination of the witnesses for respondents could not be concluded, and with consent of the parties following time schedule is prescribed and that matter will end on January 31 for orders. We grant time till February 15, 2024, to finish dictation of the orders," observed the Supreme Court bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud.
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The bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and including Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, considered the arguments presented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the speaker's office, stating that additional time is required to issue rulings on the disqualification appeals.

Previously, the Supreme Court had given the speaker time until January 31 to make decisions on the disqualification pleas related to NCP MLAs who had changed their allegiance to join the Eknath Shinde-led state government.