Maharashtra Assembly Speaker is protecting murderers: Raut

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday slammed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar and alleged that he is behaving like someone who gives refuge to a murderer to encourage the latter to commit more such crimes. Mr. Raut's remarks came a day after the Apex Court rapped Maharashtra Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar on Friday in connection with disqualification petitions of rebel Shiv Sena legislators, which are pending before him. The Court has asked Mr. Nawekar to sit and hear the petitions.

Speaking with the reporters in Mumbai, Mr. Raut, who is a close aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, said that the Supreme Court has asked Maharashtra Assembly Speaker whether he thinks it is a child's play. He alleged that the speaker is protecting the unconstitutional government.

"Those, who were sitting in the Maharashtra Assembly speaker's chair, were truthful and had regards for the Constitution. Since the Shinde government came into power, nobody including the Speaker, chief minister and ministers follow the law, the Constitution and Supreme Court. As a result, the Supreme Court on Friday told the speaker that he should not take the Court lightly," Mr. Raut said.

It is pertinent to note that the delay in deciding the disqualification petitions against Shiv Sena MLAs came under strict scrutiny by the Supreme Court which came down hard on the assembly speaker, saying the proceedings cannot be a "charade" and he cannot "defeat" its orders.