Twitter: @the_news_21
The eagerly awaited hearing on the disqualification petitions involving Shiv Sena members is slated to kick off on Thursday, September 14. Speaker of the state legislative assembly, Rahul Narvekar, had initially issued notices to all 56 Shiv Sena MLAs ahead of the monsoon session of the state legislature, requesting their responses. Following a brief extension for reply submissions, members aligned with CM Shinde’s camp submitted an extensive volume of responses, with each individual reply spanning approximately 6,000 pages. Narvekar had then clarified that the hearing process would commence after a thorough review of the responses. As per officials from the assembly secretariat, the scheduled commencement date for the hearing is now September 14.
Given that the decision-making process for disqualification petitions follows a quasi-judicial approach, Speaker Narvekar will proceed to conduct in-person hearings with all the MLAs. Sources have indicated that the Speaker has extended invitations to all MLAs on September 14, with the intention of conducting hearings on the same day. Given that each MLA received a distinct notice, the hearings will be individually tailored to address the concerns of each MLA.
Following the initiation of hearings, specific issues will be delineated, leading to further inquiries and clarifications being sought from the concerned MLAs. This indicates that a final decision is likely to be protracted. Nonetheless, the MLAs can find solace in the fact that the process has advanced one step further.