New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on July 11 a petition filed by the Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray-led faction against the appointment of Eknath Shinde as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice J. Of. Maheshwari’s vacation bench said the petition would be listed for hearing on July 11 before an appropriate bench. Senior advocate Devdutt Kamat, appearing for Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai, said they are appealing to list the fresh petition along with other pending petitions, which are to be heard on July 11.
Desai has challenged the governor’s June 30 decision to invite the alliance of Shinde faction and Bharatiya Janata Party to form the government in Maharashtra. The Thackeray-led faction has also challenged the validity of the assembly proceedings held on July 3 and 4 in which the new Speaker was elected to the House. After this, the proceedings of the trust vote in the House have also been challenged, in which the Shinde-led coalition proved its majority. The petition has sought directions to produce the records of the disqualification petitions of Shinde and other rebel MLAs. These petitions are pending with the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.