The Supreme Court will hear on Wednesday a petition filed by the Udhhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena challenging the decision by the Election Commission of India to recognise the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led camp as the “real” Shiv Sena, reported Live Law.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Thackeray faction, mentioned the matter before the Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud for urgent hearing. He had requested the matter to be heard on Tuesday, however, the CJI disagreed saying that he wanted to read the files before the hearing commenced.
Sibal submitted that urgent protective orders are necessary as the Shinde camp is taking over the offices and bank accounts of the Shiv Sena following the apex poll body’s decision.
The CJI-led bench, also comprising Justices Krishna Murari and PS Narasimha, on Tuesday agreed to hear the matter on Wednesday at 3:30 PM after the Constitution Bench hearing.
On Friday, the ECI had recognised the Shinde camp as the official Shiv Sena party and ordered the allocation of the “bow and arrow” poll symbol to the party. The EC, meanwhile, allowed the Uddhav Thackeray faction to keep the “flaming torch” poll symbol allocated to it for the November Assembly by-polls.
A five-judge Constitution Bench is currently hearing issues on the row over the claim to the Shiv Sena.
On February 17, the apex court declined a plea by the Thackeray faction of Sena to refer the 2016 Nabam Rebia judgment, which restricted the power of the Speaker to decide a disqualification petition if a resolution for his own removal is pending, to a larger seven-judge bench.
The bench led by CJI said that issue of reference can be decided when the case is heard based on “merits” and could not be decided in an “abstract manner, isolated and divorced from the facts of the case”.