The order came after advocate Kapil Sibal - representing Team Uddhav - sought status quo on disqualification proceedings.
“The court had said that the petitions would be listed on July 11. I urge that there should be no disqualification till the matter is decided here," Sibal said, adding that earlier the top court had protected the rebel MLAs when they had approached it.
“Mr (Tushar) Mehta (Solicitor General who was appearing for the Governor), you, please, inform the assembly Speaker not to take up the disqualification petitions until this court hears the matter. Matters won't be listed tomorrow but inform the Speaker," Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana, told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who was in the court on behalf of the governor.
Ahead of the hearing, the court was informed that the newly-elected assembly speaker and BJP leader Rahul Narwekar has the legal power to decide on the disqualification petitions pending against state chief minister Eknath Shinde and other dissident MLAs of Shiv Sena. The secretary of the assembly said that the disqualification proceedings shall now be undertaken by the speaker and not the deputy speaker.
Reacting to the Supreme Court's decision Shiv Sena spokesperson tweeted, “So with this SC postponing the decision, we still do not know: Is the swearing-in of the government constitutional, is the speaker election valid, the sworn in CM & other rebel MLAs disqualified or not, is this faction legally tenable or not. We shall wait, country is watching"
The Thackeray-led faction has also challenged the validity of assembly proceedings held on July 3 and July 4 in which a new speaker of the House was elected and subsequent proceedings of floor test in which the Shinde-led coalition had proved its majority.
The top court had on June 27 kept in abeyance the disqualification proceedings before the Deputy Speaker of the state assembly till July 11, and also sought responses from the state government and others on their pleas questioning the legality of notices seeking their disqualification.
