Supreme Court Issues Notice on NCP Faction Dispute, to Hear Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena Petitions Together

New Delhi, 29th July 2024: On July 29, the Supreme Court issued a notice regarding the petition from Sharad Pawar’s faction of the NCP, challenging the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker’s decision not to disqualify members of the Ajit Pawar faction.

The bench, consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, indicated that the issues concerning the maintainability of the petition will be resolved along with the merits at the final disposal stage.

The Court also specified that this case will be heard together with a pending petition from the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray Faction), which contests the Speaker’s decision not to disqualify the MLAs associated with the Eknath Shinde group.

“We will issue a notice, and all objections, including those related to maintainability, will be addressed at the final disposal stage. The petitioners are permitted to serve other respondents with a dasti notice,” the Court stated.

Senior Advocate Dr. AM Singhvi represented the petitioners.

In February, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar declined to disqualify MLAs supporting Ajit Pawar following the factional split. The Speaker’s decision was based on the Election Commission of India’s recognition of Ajit Pawar’s faction as the legitimate NCP. The Sharad Pawar faction’s challenge to the ECI’s decision remains pending before the Supreme Court.

Speaker Narwekar did not categorize the actions of Ajit Pawar’s group as “defection” under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. Instead, he viewed them as intra-party dissent within the NCP, with members divided between leaders Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar. “Disagreeing with Sharad Pawar’s decisions and acting contrary to his wishes cannot be deemed defection or abandonment of the party. It is merely dissent within the NCP,” the Speaker ruled.

Background of the NCP Rift

The conflict began when a faction led by Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel separated from NCP leader Sharad Pawar and aligned with the BJP and Shinde Sena. Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister, and eight other NCP MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde-led government in July 2023.

The official NCP responded by filing a disqualification petition against Ajit Pawar and the eight MLAs who joined the Shinde Government. In response, Ajit Pawar asserted that he had the support of the majority of NCP MLAs and represented the ‘real’ NCP. Praful Patel declared Ajit Pawar as the leader of the NCP legislative party in the assembly. The Election Commission of India is currently reviewing a petition from Ajit Pawar’s faction, which claims the NCP party name and election symbol.

The Ajit Pawar faction also filed petitions. Initially, the Supreme Court set a deadline of January 31, 2024, for the Speaker to decide on the disqualification petitions but later extended the deadline to February 15.