Supreme Court Rejects Stay on Shiv Sena MPs' Merger with Shinde Faction

The Supreme Court of India has recently declined to issue an interim stay on the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's decision to approve the merger of six Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) with the faction led by Eknath Shinde. This ruling was delivered by a bench comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe.

On June 18, Speaker Om Birla recognised the merger, which resulted in the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) increasing its representation in the Lok Sabha from seven to 13 MPs. This decision was formalised in a circular issued by the Lok Sabha, outlining the updated party positioning within the lower house of India's Parliament.

In response, the Uddhav Thackeray faction filed a petition in the Supreme Court to contest the validity of the merger. Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, representing the Uddhav Sena, argued that the case raises significant questions concerning constitutional morality and propriety. He stated, "Six MPs were elected under our party symbol. No disqualification proceedings are pending. The question of deciding on the merger has not even arisen."

Kamat further contended that the circular outlining the merger was signed by a joint secretary and lacked clarity regarding any formal order from the Speaker approving the merger. He emphasised that the six MPs had unilaterally decided to merge with a rival political party without proper procedure.

He added, "This whole thing has been orchestrated. There is grave urgency. Your lordships are well aware. All these processes get defeated by the passage of time. We are not considering the provisions of the 10th schedule. The Speaker has no jurisdiction to pass an order on merger."

Despite Kamat's appeals for an interim order to stay the merger, the Supreme Court stated it would not consider the request at this stage. The court has issued a notice for the Speaker to respond to the petition and has requested the counter arguments to be filed within two weeks.

The developments surrounding this merger continue to attract considerable attention, highlighting the ongoing political tensions within the Shiv Sena party.