ASHISH SHELAR Vs. MAHARASHTRA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners have been duly elected as members of the current Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (2019-2024). They got elected from different constituencies in the State of Maharashtra. They belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party[1], the principal Opposition Party in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The Ruling Party is a coalition between the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) christened as "Maha Vikas Aghadi".

(2.) This lis emanates from the events as unfolded during the Monsoon Session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on 5.7.2021. The proceedings of the House witnessed heated exchanges between the members of the Opposition Party and the Ruling Party due to an impression formed by the former that the business of the House was being conducted in unilateral manner, with conscious and engineered effort to suppress voice of the Opposition Party. In that, even the Leader of Opposition was denied an opportunity to speak on a crucial motion under consideration. At the relevant time, the House was presided over by the Chairman nominated under Rule 8 of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Rules[2], who according to the petitioners, denied opportunity to the Opposition Party to speak including to the Leader of Opposition.

(3.) It is alleged that in the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee, which preceded the actual Assembly Session, there was a concerted effort on behalf of the members of the Ruling Party to cut short the Assembly Session for a period of two days especially when the State was facing unprecedented situation owing to pandemic, which needed elaborate deliberation in the House. The concerted effort was to strip of all legislative tools available to the Opposition Party so as to make sure that voice of opposition is muffled and suppressed.