Appearing before a bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra, SG Tushar Mehta (for the Speaker) stated that the proceedings in the matter would be closed on December 20, 2023. However, there were around two lakh seventy thousand documents which had to be examined and the same required additional time.
The bench noted that the speaker had sought a reasonable extension of time and stated that the petitions may be decided by January 10, 2024.
The SG had submitted–
“The speaker has said that on 20 December the judgement would be reserved and no further time would be taken. Hearings took place even during the assembly session. There are 2 lakh 71 thousand pages. I’m seeking pronouncement of judgement extension by three weeks. We won’t ask for more.”
While Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal objected to the same stating that a similar extension had been asked for even last time, the CJI said–
“The speaker has indicated that the proceedings will be closed on Dec 20. The speaker has sought a reasonable extension of time. Bearing in mind the time limit laid out earlier, we grant extension of time till January 10, 2023 for the speaker to deliver judgment.”
It may be recalled that in the last hearing, the court had directed the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions filed in relation to Shiv Sena rift and the Nationalist Congress Party rift by December 31, 2023 and January 31, 2024 respectively.
The petition filed by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sunil Prabhu relied on the Supreme Court’s direction in the constitution bench judgement of May 11, 2023 that the speaker must decide the disqualification petitions “within a reasonable period”.
Case Title: Jayant Patil v The Speaker Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly W.P.(C) No. 1077/2023
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