The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to urgently list the plea filed by Uddhav Thackeray against the order of the Election Commission allotting party name ‘Shiv Sena’ and its symbol ‘Bow and Arrow’ to the Eknath Shinde faction.
“Wait for the Constitution bench on Jammu and Kashmir to get over and we will give a date”, told a bench comprising Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra to Uddhav’s counsel, advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, who mentioned the matters for urgent listing.
The bench also declined to urgently hear the plea filed by Uddhav Thackeray faction against delay by the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker in deciding the disqualification proceedings filed against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his camp. In this matter, the Court had sought responses of Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar and CM Eknath Shinde by July 28.
Earlier on July 10, the Supreme Court had agreed to hear on July 31 the plea against the order of the Election Commission allotting party name and its symbol to the Shinde faction. However, the plea could not be listed before the court for hearing.
On February 22, the Supreme Court had called Shinde and EC to file their reply on Thackeray’s plea within two weeks and directed the matter to be listed after three weeks.
The top court had refused to stay the Election Commission’s decision recognising the Eknath Shinde faction as the official Shiv Sena and granting them the party name and symbol but agreed to issue notice on the petition filed by Uddhav Thackeray challenging it.
Thackeray, in his plea filed before the apex court, has contended that the EC has failed to appreciate that the petitioner enjoys overwhelming support in the rank and file of the party.
Further, the plea contended that the EC has failed to discharge its duties as a neutral arbiter of disputes under para 15 of the Symbols Order and has acted in a manner undermining its constitutional status.
In response, the poll body in its counter-affidavit has told the top court that it has passed a “well-reasoned” order, in a quasi-judicial capacity, allotting the name and party symbol of the Shiv Sena to Shinde faction.
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