The Supreme Court on Wednesday hearing plea filed by the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena said that some of the issues gripping the party will be referred to a larger bench.
Posting the next hearing on August 1, the Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana, gave a week's time to both Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions to frame the issues and file the same by next Wednesday.
Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena had challenged disqualification proceedings initiated against them under the constitutional scheme.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uddhav faction, told a bench that Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari should not have sworn-in the new government when the apex court was seized of the matter.
"Speaker recognising a whip other than the official whip nominated by the party is malafide," Sibal told the bench also comprising Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli.
Sibal also pressed for disqualification of the rebel MLAs.
While Harish Salve, counsel appearing for Eknath Shinde faction, told the court that the new government was formed after Thackeray resigned; thus cannot be termed unconstitutional.
Salve also argued that the political leaders have the right to voice their dissent within a party to which Sibal countered that the MLAs did not attend the party meeting which was convened and fled to another city instead.
The CJI-led bench on July 11 had granted interim relief to the Uddhav Thackeray faction MLAs by asking Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar not to proceed with the plea seeking their disqualification as sought by the Shinde group on the grounds of defying the party whip during the trust vote and the election of the speaker.
(With inputs from PTI)
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