The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to list early the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) plea challenging Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s decision rejecting their petitions seeking disqualification of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 38 MLAs backing him and recognizing the Shinde group as real Shiv Sena.

Upon a mentioning by senior advocate Kapil Sibal for the listing of the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s plea, Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud heading a bench also comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, said, “Yes, we will list it.”

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Senior advocate Sibal appearing for the Shiv Sena (UBT) in a mentioning told the bench that the case was supposed to be listed for hearing today but it is not listed. “It was to be listed today. If it can be listed… else elections are to be held,” Sibal told the bench stating that the elections could be announced in March.

The Supreme Court on January 22, 2024, had issued notice to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 38 MLAs supporting him on Shiv Sena (UBT)’s plea challenging Speaker Narwekar’s January 10, 2024, order. Shiv Sena (UBT)’s whip in the State legislature Sunil Prabhu has approached the top court against Speaker’s decision.

The Chief Minister Eknath Shinde group had approached the Bombay High Court challenging the Speaker Narwekar’s refusal to disqualify the Uddhav Thackeray group MLAs and the High Court has already issued notice on the Shinde group’s petition.

The Thackeray faction in its petition has said that the Speaker Narwekar’s decision was a “colourable” exercise of power based on “extraneous and irrelevant” considerations.

The disqualification petitions against the Shinde and 38 rebel MLAs were filed by Sunil Prabhu, the Shiv Sena legislature party’s Whip appointed by Uddhav Thackeray, on June 23, 2022, after the MLAs backing Shinde revolted against him (Thackeray).

On May 11, 2023, a five-judge Constitution bench had said that it cannot unseat the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government and reinstate Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minister because he (Thackeray) chose to resign instead of facing the floor test ordered by the Governor.

In August 2022, the top court’s three-judge bench had referred to a five-judge Constitution bench the issues involved in the petition filed by rival groups of Shiv Sena in relation to the Maharashtra political crisis.

On June 29, 2022, the top court gave a go ahead to the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on June 30. It had refused to stay the Maharashtra Governor’s direction to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30.

After the June 29, 2022, order, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as the Chief Minister and Eknath Shinde was later sworn-in as the Chief Minister.