Supreme Court reserves order on review of 2016 Nabam Rebia verdict

New Delhi, February 16

A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court hearing issues arising after the recent political crisis in Maharashtra on Thursday reserved its verdict on whether the 2016 ruling of a five-judge Bench in the Nabam Rebia’s case should be reconsidered by a larger Bench.

The top court had in Nabam Rebia’s case ruled that a Speaker could not decide disqualification petitions under the anti-defection law if a notice for his removal was pending. The Bench would also consider if the Nabam Rebia verdict was applicable to the Maharashtra case.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has questioned the correctness of the ruling while the rival Shiv Sena group led by CM Eknath Shinde says the case was rightly decided and the issue must not be referred to a larger Bench. The 2016 verdict had helped the rebel MLAs led by Shinde. But the Thackeray faction had sought their disqualification even while a notice of the Shinde group for the removal of Deputy Speaker Narhari Sitaram Zirwal, a Thackeray loyalist, was pending before the House.

Contending that the constitutional issues arising out of the June 2022 Maharashtra political crisis were not merely academic, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, representing the Uddhav faction, said such issues would arise time and again when elected governments were toppled.

“This issue will arise time and again. Elected governments will be toppled. No democracy in the world allows this to happen. So please don’t say this is academic. I beg of you. Do not allow the Tenth Schedule to topple an elected government. It is not just a narrow interpretation,” Sibal told the Bench which also included Justice MR Shah, Justice Krishna Murari, Justice Hima Kohli and Justice PS Narasimha.

On behalf of the Shinde faction, senior counsel Mahesh Jethmalani defended the Nabam Rebia verdict, saying there was no reason to refer it to a larger Bench. Another senior counsel Maninder Singh representing the Shinde group said a majority of Shiv Sena MLAs wanted a change in the leadership for proceeding further.