New Delhi(PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday asked the newly-elected Maharashtra Assembly speaker not to proceed with the plea seeking disqualification of MLAs of Shiv Sena faction led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli took note of the submissions of senior advocates led by Kapil Sibal that the several pleas of the Uddahav faction were to be listed on Monday.

The court had said that the petitions would be listed on July 11. I urge that there should be no disqualification till the matter is decided here, Sibal said, adding that earlier the top court had protected the rebel MLAs when they had approached it.

Mr (Tushar) Mehta (Solicitor General who was appearing for the Governor), you please inform the assembly speaker not to take any hearing. Let us see, we will hear the matter, the bench said.

The Thackeray-led faction has also challenged the validity of assembly proceedings held on July 3 and July 4 in which a new speaker of the House was elected and subsequent proceedings of floor test in which the Shinde-led coalition had proved its majority.

The top court had on June 27 kept in abeyance the disqualification proceedings before the Deputy Speaker of the state assembly till July 11, and also sought responses from the state government and others on their pleas questioning the legality of notices seeking their disqualification.

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Pune (PTI): A horse was injured and a few vehicles were damaged after a hoarding collapsed due to strong winds in Maharashtra’s Pune city, police said.

The billboard crashed to the ground between 5 pm and 6 pm on Saturday outside a wedding hall near Kavdi Pat toll booth on the Pune-Solapur Highway, an official said.

The incident comes days after a giant illegal billboard in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area collapsed on a petrol pump due to gusty winds and unseasonal rains, killing 16 persons and injuring 75.

Citing preliminary information about the incident in Pune, the police on Saturday said the hoarding collapsed due to strong winds and it fell on a horse, and a few vehicles, including one brought by a band party, outside the Gulmohar Lawns wedding hall.

The injured horse was rescued and taken for treatment, the official said.