The Supreme Court today (July 22) issued notice to the Lok Sabha Speaker on a petition filed by Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) member Arvind Ganpat Sawant challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to approve the merger of its six MPs with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. However, the Court refused to grant interim relief at this stage.
before a bench involving Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe, senior advocate Devdutt Kamat(for UBT) argued that there is no disqualification petition pending before Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla; Therefore, there was no opportunity to pass an order approving the merger. He sought interim relief to stay the Speaker’s order. He also argued that the merger order was signed by a Joint Secretary and not by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
He said: “It raises important questions of constitutional morality and propriety, going to the core of parliamentary democracy. 6 out of 9 MPs were elected on my party’s election symbol; There are no disqualification proceedings pending. There is no question raised on the merger as your Lordships said in Subhash Desai… The whole thing has been organized only for the purposes of the Parliament session, my Lordships can consider it next week.“
Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Appearing on behalf of Eknath Shinde, opposed the petition of UBT. The bench refused to grant any interim relief while issuing notice to the Lok Sabha Speaker and listing the matter after two weeks.
Reportedly, ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla Merger approved Six Shiv Sena UBT MPs join the leadership of Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena.
The MPs are Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal), Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani), Sanjay Dina Patil (Mumbai North East), Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar (Hingoli), Omprakash Rajenimbalkar (Dharashiv) and Bhausaheb Wakchore (Shirdi). After the merger, the number of UBT MPs in the Lok Sabha has reduced to three, while the number of Shinde Sena MPs has increased to 13.
Case Details: Arvind Ganpat Sawant vs. Hon’ble Speaker, Lok Sabha and Ors.|WP(C) No. 886/2026