Demand for disqualification of 16 MLAs: Not in any hurry, says Rahul Narvekar

The Shiv Sena UBT submitted a plea on Monday to deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal in the absence of Speaker Rahul Narvekar about following the Supreme Court order to take a decision on the disqualification of 16 MLAs of the Shinde faction within a reasonable period In response Narvekar on his arrival from England said that he would not take a decision under pressure or fear of the allegations from the people who wanted a verdict of their choiceldquoI donrsquot pay attention to any demand Let them say whatever they want I will not decide under fear I will not decide because some people want a judgment of their choicerdquo Narvekar Rahul Narvekar speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly told the media on MondayEarlier in the day Sena UBT leader Sunil Prabhu who claimed that he was still the partyrsquos whip as per the order and his party colleagues handed Zirwal a pile of documents to be forwarded to the speakerldquoWe have given a letter and a copy of the court judgment asking the speaker to decide our plea at the earliest The Manipur case has determined a reasonable period We will wait for further action before deciding our next moverdquo he saidAlso Read Maharashtra political row Verdict brings a lot more to the ShindeBJP tableSpeculators said on Monday that Zirwal was handed the petition and letters in order to make him use the authority he had used during the disputed episode last year Some people said that Zirwal the then officiating speaker should decide the disqualification However Narvekar scoffed at such a possibility Narvekar said his deputy Zirwal knew his authority ldquoThe deputy speaker works as the speaker when the latterrsquos office is vacant He knows his as well as the speakerrsquos authority and powers very wellrdquo he added Zirwal had been in the thick of action after he served the disqualification notices to 16 MLAsZirwalrsquos role as an lsquoofficiating speakerrsquo and the provisions in the antidefection law were debated in the SC The Shinde faction had moved a notrust motion against Zirwal a move that made the SC refer the issue to a larger bench for verifying the correctness of the previous ruling He was of the opinion that the process he was expected to carry out as per the court guidelines would be lengthyldquoI canrsquot define a reasonable period As per the guidelines I will have to conduct an inquiry to decide who represents a political party hear out multiple individuals and examine petitions and so on It will take whatever time it needs Justice hurried is justice buried justice delayed is justice denied Whatever has to happen will happen as per the court guidelines and constitutionrdquo Narvekar added The process will start with identifying a political party that issued a whip then Narveka said adding ldquoThe Election Commission has decided it but that was a prospective decision I will have to make a retrospective decisionrdquoAbout the lsquoillegalityrsquo of the Shinde Senarsquos whip Bharat Gogawale and Shindersquos status as the leaders of Shiv Sena legislative party the speaker said the matter needed to be understood properly ldquoThe court has said Gogawalersquos appointment was not inappropriate because it was not clear whether he represented a political party The court has asked to verify whether Gogawale represented a party and then decide accordinglyldquoThe court has not decided Gogawale or Shindersquos appointment as permanently inappropriate So we can recognise their appointments againrdquo he said adding that it would be verified who among the individuals Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray was authorised to appoint a whip Narvekar said the MLAs have been served notices seeking explanation under the principle of natural justice ldquoSome people have asked for more time Some people have requested a personal hearing The process is still onrdquo The Thackeray faction had already said that it would move the SC in case Narvekar delayed the process or decided against it