The Supreme Court on Tuesday was apprised by the Uddhav Thackeray Shiv Sena faction that it will seek reference of cases related to the Maharashtra political crisis to a seven-judge bench to have a relook of a 2016 judgment on powers of assembly speakers to deal with disqualification pleas.
In 2016, a five-judge constitution bench, while deciding the Nabam Rebia case, had held that the assembly speaker cannot proceed with a plea for disqualification of MLAs if a prior notice seeking removal of the speaker is pending decision in the House.
Five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, while hearing a batch of pleas related to the Maharashtra political crisis triggered by the Shiv Sena’s division, was told by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Thackeray faction, that he will be seeking reference of matters to a seven-judge bench to have a relook of the 2016 judgment in the Nabam Rebia case.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Maharashtra governor, said he would also like to submit a note on broader issues including the pre-poll alliance.