The Supreme Court ruling asking the Maharashtra Speaker to decide on the disqualification of MLAs based on the whip issued by the political party, Shiv Sena, and not its legislative wing may see more court cases.

The Thackeray group considers this part of the ruling a huge win for the faction as it believes that the political wing of the party remains loyal to it, even though the majority of legislators are with chief minister Eknath Shinde.

“This is a historic decision. A lot of clarity has come after our arguments in the Supreme Court. The SC has very clearly said that while deciding on the issue of disqualification, the Speaker should decide on the basis of the whip issued by the political party. At that time, Sunil Prabhu (Uddhav group MLA) had issued the whip which was disregarded by them. So, they would have to be disqualified,” Thackeray group’s Anil Parab said.

The SC has asked Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to give a ruling within a reasonable time. Parab that reasonable time meant a maximum of three months. However, he expected a decision in a fortnight.

“We believe that the government will fall in 15 days, as the facts are clear. The assembly proceeding records clearly show that Prabhu’s whip was not obeyed. It is not rocket science to figure out that they have violated the whip. So, we believe that the government will fall in 15 days,” he said.

CM Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, however, claimed that the ruling that only the political party was empowered to issue a whip did not go against the Shinde group. “According to our interpretation, Eknath Shinde heads the political party. Even the Election Commission has held the same. The Speaker has to decide who headed the party then. Let us not speculate about it. Let the Speaker decide,” Fadnavis said.

Speaker Rahul Narwekar, on a trip abroad, said he would try to give a decision as soon as possible. He said that he would study the Shiv Sena constitution and will look into all aspects before taking a decision. “I can’t say how long it will take… We would have to first determine who Shiv Sena belongs to,” Narwekar said. According to insiders, the Thackeray faction is readying a legal challenge if Narwekar delays in deciding or takes a decision against the group.