Supreme Court Issues Notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Over Shiv Sena (UBT) Merger Order

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to pass an interim stay on Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's decision to recognise the merger of six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. However, the court agreed to hear a challenge to the order after two weeks.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe issued notice to Speaker Birla on a writ petition filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Ganpat Sawant. Sawant challenged what he described as an 'ex facie unconstitutional, illegal, and perverse circular' dated July 18, 2026, issued by the Joint Secretary of the Lok Sabha Secretariat, which recognised the merger.

Senior Advocate Devadutt Kamat, representing Sawant, argued that no disqualification petitions were pending before the Speaker and therefore there was no occasion to pass an order approving the merger. Seeking an interim stay, Kamat contended that the merger order was signed by a joint secretary and not by the Speaker himself.

Kamat submitted that the matter 'raises important questions of constitutional morality and propriety' and 'goes to the heart of parliamentary democracy'. He alleged that the entire episode was 'orchestrated only for the purposes of Parliament session'.

In his petition, Sawant stated that the six MPs had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on tickets from Shiv Sena (UBT) and under its symbol, the flaming torch. He argued that the electorate in those constituencies had placed their faith in Uddhav Thackeray's ideology and leadership, and the MPs' decision to merge with the Shinde-led faction betrayed that trust.

The petition further claimed that the merger was 'without any constitutional or legal sanction' and constituted 'a blatant affront to the very concept of parliamentary democracy'. It urged the court to strike down the circular and nullify the attempt to undermine the democratic framework.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the matter after two weeks.