Disqualification notice: CM Eknath Shinde and 15 MLAs submit 6,000-page reply to Maharashtra Speaker

MUMBAI: The 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, including chief minister Eknath Shinde, have submitted a 6,000-page reply to Maharashtra Assembly speaker in response to the disqualification notice against them.

The 6,000-page reply has led to questions within the Uddhav Thackeray faction that this was another tactic of the Shinde camp to delay the hearing of the disqualification. The Uddhav Thackeray faction had moved for a disqualification of the 16 MLAs last year when the Shiv Sena split.

“They still haven’t got the ability to stop time, the country has a law and a judiciary, the person sitting in the speaker’s post should realise that he is the upholder of the law. In this country, if you don’t obey Ambedkar’s constitution people will throw them away,” said Uddhav faction’s MP Sanjay Raut, while speaking to reporters.


Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat refuted that the 6,000-page petition was a tactic to delay the proceedings. “We have not written any stories or a film story, we have just put out the factual situation and given our version,” he said.

Maharashtra Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar while speaking to the media said he would not like to discuss the reply with the media. “The speaker while deciding the disqualification issue is a quasi judicial authority. I will not discuss it anymore and we will proceed as per procedure.”

The speaker had issued a notice to the 16 MLAs to give a reply on July 7, 2023. The MLAs were given seven days to give their replies. However, the 16 MLAs sought time from the speaker to submit their response.

The Uddhav faction has already approached the Supreme Court seeking it to order the Maharashtra speaker to give an order on the disqualification within 15 days. The SC in its order in May had held that the Maharashtra Assembly speaker had to decide on the disqualification proceedings within a ‘reasonable time’.