The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to list a petition by the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena challenging proceedings before the Election Commission on August 1, Live Law reported.
Factions led by Thackeray and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde are currently engaged in a legal battle before the Election Commission for the right to be identified as the real Shiv Sena. The poll panel will also have to decide on which faction has the right to use the party symbol.
On July 22, the Election Commission directed Thackeray and Shinde to submit documents to prove that their faction of the Shiv Sena has the support of the majority of the party members.
Chaos ensued in the Shiv Sena last month after Shinde and a group of party MLAs rebelled against the earlier Maharashtra government – a coalition of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.
After more than a week of political drama, the coalition was ousted from power as the Thackeray faction was reduced to a minority in the state Assembly. Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra on June 30, while the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Devendra Fadnavis took oath as his deputy.
On July 4, Shinde won a floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly. He got 164 votes in his support, significantly above the majority mark of 145, while 99 MLAs voted against him.
Following the split in the party, the Shinde-led faction has claimed to have the support of 40 out of 55 Shiv Sena MLAs in Maharashtra and 12 out of its 18 Lok Sabha MPs.
Six petitions filed by the two factions are pending in courts.
These include Shinde’s plea challenging the disqualification notices issued against him and 15 other MLAs of his camp on June 25.
Thackeray, on the other hand, has filed a plea against newly-elected Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar’s decision to recognise Bharatsheth Gogawale as the new party whip. He has also filed a petition against the governor’s decision to call for a floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly.
On Tuesday, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Thackeray faction, told a bench comprising Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli to list the matter urgently, Live Law reported.
Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing the Shinde faction, said that the Election Commission proceedings are different from the petitions pending before the court.
“It is an intra-party thing as to who represents the party and the symbol,” Kaul said, according to PTI. “It has nothing to do with matters pending before the apex court.”
When the Chief Justice asked what was the stage of proceedings before the Election Commission, Kaul replied that a notice was issued for August 8.
The bench then posted the matter, along with other related petitions, on August 1.
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