The Supreme Court on Monday verbally asked the Maharashtra Speaker to refrain from taking any decision on disqualification proceedings against MLAs belonging to the Uddhav Thackeray faction until the top court takes up for consideration petitions and counter-petitions relating to the recent political developments in the state.

“Mr Mehta, please inform the Assembly Speaker not to take any decision till we hear the matter. Please inform the Speaker’s office through your office,” Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana told solicitor-general Tushar Mehta during the morning mentioning time.

The bench, which included Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli, gave the oral direction following a request for urgent hearing on the political row in the state from senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uddhav camp. Mehta was appearing for Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

Sibal made the plea while pointing out that despite repeated directions from the apex court that the batch of petitions relating to the state’s political developments be listed on July 11, the registry has not complied with it. The directions for listing the matters on July 11 were passed by different vacation benches of the apex court, which reopened on Monday after the summer vacation.

He said the matter needed urgent consideration as otherwise the Speaker had scheduled for Tuesday the disqualification proceedings against the Uddhav camp.

The CJI said the court had not yet gone through the files and hence needed time for listing it before an appropriate bench.

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde (right) and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on a bridge across the Wainganga river to take stock of the flood situation in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on Monday. PTI picture

“The matter requires consideration by a bench and it will take some time to be listed,” Justice Ramana said, while asking Mehta to convey the message to the Speaker not to proceed with any move on the disqualification row.

Mehta agreed to convey the court’s directive to the Speaker.

A batch of petitions and cross-petitions on the recent political developments Maharashtra are presently pending before the apex court.

They include the Uddhav faction’s latest application challenging Speaker Rahul Narvekar’s decision to recognise Eknath Shinde faction MLA Bharat Gogawale as the new chief whip, an earlier petition filed by the Shinde faction questioning the validity of the disqualification notice issued by then deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, and the Uddhav faction’s petition challenging the decision of governor Koshyari to direct Uddhav to prove his majority in the Assembly.

Uddhav on June 27 resigned as chief minister after the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the floor test.

Apart from this, the Uddhav faction had moved an application for suspension of 39 rebel Sena MLAs, including chief minister Eknath Shinde, from the Assembly till the deputy Speaker decides the disqualification petitions filed against them.

The argument of the Uddhav faction of the Sena is that there has been no formal merger of the breakaway faction with the BJP or any other party as such and the defectors have invited disqualification under the anti-defection law.