Sanjay Raut accuses ED of threatening leaders who want to join Shiv Sena (UBT)

He also said that Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar's ruling of Eknath Shinde faction as the 'real' Shiv Sena is "completely illegal."

"All the big leaders who wanted to join Shiv Sena (UBT) had ED notices at their homes. Notices are sent, and they are threatened not to go anywhere near Shiv Sena," Raut said while talking to reporters here.

"The decision given by the Speaker (Rahul Narwekar) about Shiv Sena was completely illegal. We had all the evidence of what we had given to the ECI (Election Commission of India). We had given all the information to the public. We removed their mask and exposed them. After which they became furious and from the next day on, our people started receiving notices from ED and IT," Raut said.

Delivering his decision on cross-petitions by Shiv Sena factions seeking disqualification of rival group MLAs after a split in the party in June last year, Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar said on January 10 that the "Shinde faction was real Shiv Sena when rival factions emerged".

The Speaker referred to the Shiv Sena constitution while delivering his crucial decision and said, "The decision of Paksha Pramukh cannot be taken as a decision of the political party."

Meanwhile, Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it will hear on January 22 plea of Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena challenging the order of Maharashtra Speaker on the dismissal of disqualification pleas against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde faction MLAs.

The matter was mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Sunil Prabhu, an MLA of Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena.

Sibal said the matter was listed for hearing on January 19 and asked if it could be heard on Monday, to which the bench agreed.

Thackeray faction also challenged the order of Maharashtra Speaker to recognise the Eknath Shinde faction as the 'real Shiv Sena' after its split in June 2022.

The Speaker's decision came on January 10, nearly two years after Thackeray's camp moved disqualification petitions against Shinde and his supporting legislators under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) of the Constitution.

Approaching the apex court against the Maharashtra speaker Rahul Narwekar's decision to dismiss the disqualification petitions against Shinde and 38 "rebel" Shiv Sena legislators, the Thackeray faction said the decision was a "colourable" exercise of power based on "extraneous and irrelevant" considerations.

Earlier, the top court had asked the Speaker to decide expeditiously the disqualification petitions pending before him.

The disqualification petitions against the rebel MLAs were filed by Sunil Prabhu, the Shiv Sena party Whip appointed by Uddhav Thackeray, on 23 June 2022, after the MLAs revolted against Thackeray. (ANI)