Ashish Ranjan
SC to hear Uddhav Sena plea today: Today, the Supreme Court will hear the petition filed by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray challenging the Election Commission of India’s (EC) decision to recognise the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the true Shiv Sena and assign it the party’s name and the ‘bow and arrow’ poll symbol.
Senior counsel Kapil Sibal presented the petition to a bench headed over by the Chief Justice of India, D. Y. Chandrachud, which consented to hear Uddhav Sena plea on Wednesday at 3.30 p.m.
Sibal urged the court to hear the case on Wednesday morning, saying, “If this (EC ruling) is not stayed, the Shinde-led Sena would seize control of everything, even the bank accounts. They have already assumed control of the office; we will be further disqualified.”
The court noted, however, that since it will hear petitions filed by the Shinde and Thackeray camps in the aftermath of last year’s political fallout beginning on Tuesday, it did not wish to disrupt that bench and would instead hear the new case on Wednesday afternoon.
The CJI further stated that the judges had not reviewed the file and would prefer to do so before to hearing the case.
Thackeray argued in his suit that the EC could not have relied on the legislative majority criteria because disqualification procedures against Shinde’s supporters are still continuing. He stated that, if disqualified, the Shinde side would lose its legislative majority.
Thackeray, who holds a majority in the Legislative Council and Rajya Sabha, stated that legislative majority alone is not a reliable criterion for deciding a petition under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order when there is a conflict in legislative majority and the possibility of some members losing their right to membership.
Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, addresses the EC’s authority over breakaway groups and opposing factions of a recognised party.
The petition, which accused the EC of behaving in a biassed and unfair manner, asserted that the polling body had failed to fulfil its responsibilities as an impartial arbitrator of disputes under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order, so undermining its constitutional standing.
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Additionally, Thackeray questioned the EC’s conclusion that the Sena’s constitution was “undemocratic.” He stated that there was no challenge to the provisions of the party constitution until the matter was being heard, when an objection was brought for the first time against the constitutionality of the altered constitution.
Since there was no opposition, he never had the chance to refute it, remarked Thackeray.
