New Delhi, Oct 8 (UNI) The Supreme Court today agreed to hear on November 12 the plea filed by Uddhav Thackeray challenging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to recognise the Eknath Shinde faction as the official Shiv Sena and allot it the party’s traditional bow and arrow symbol.
A Bench comprising Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan, and NK Singh took note of submissions made by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Thackeray, who sought urgent listing of the matter.
“There’s urgency. Local elections are scheduled for January. Please hear it at the earliest,” Sibal urged.
Responding to this, Justice Surya Kant said, “We will take it up on November 12.”
Sibal also requested that the petitions challenging the Maharashtra Speaker’s refusal to disqualify MLAs belonging to the Shinde faction be heard along with the present matter.
Justice Kant noted that the disqualification issue was pending before another Bench and advised Sibal to seek the Chief Justice’s permission to have both cases listed together, to which Sibal agreed.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared on behalf of Eknath Shinde.
The plea challenges the February 2023 ECI order that awarded the party name and symbol to the Shinde-led group, following the split in Shiv Sena during the 2022 political crisis in Maharashtra.
Thackeray’s camp has argued that the Election Commission failed to assess the true majority within the party’s organisational structure, and instead gave undue importance to the numerical strength of MLAs supporting Shinde.
While issuing notice in the matter, the Supreme Court allowed the Uddhav faction to continue using the name “Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)” and the symbol “flaming torch” as per paragraph 133(IV) of the ECI order, until the case is finally decided.
SC to hear Thackeray’s plea on Nov 12 against ECI order recognising Eknath Shinde faction
