The Supreme Court on Monday asked Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to defer for the time being the disqualification proceedings initiated against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 other "dissident" Shiv Sena MLAs for defection.
The Speaker had also started disqualification process against 14 Shiv Sena MLAs for voting against the whip issued by the Shinde-led faction.
Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana asked lawyers representing the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly secretariat to inform the Speaker's office to not list the disqualification proceedings on July 12.