Observing that the sanctity of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution should be maintained, the Supreme Court on Monday directed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to decide the cross-petitions filed by the rival factions of the Shiv Sena seeking disqualification of each other’s MLAs by December 31.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said procedural wranglings should not be permitted to delay a decision on the disqualification petitions. The top court also asked the speaker to decide the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) petition seeking the disqualification of nine MLAs of the Ajit Pawar group by January 31, 2024.