SC to hear Uddhav faction’s symbol petition on July 31

A bench of CJI Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and justice PS Narasimha allowed the Thackeray faction to file rejoinder on the reply filed by Shinde group and the EC

: The Supreme Court on Monday saw no urgency to advance the July 31 hearing on Uddhav Thackeray’s plea against the Election Commission’s order allotting party name “Shiv Sena” and symbol “bow and arrow” to the rival faction led by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde.

On February 22, the apex court had sought the response from the poll body on correctness of its February 17 order granting the Shiv Sena party name and symbol to the Shinde group (Agencies)

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and justice PS Narasimha allowed the Thackeray faction to file rejoinder on the reply filed by Shinde group and the EC — the two parties to the petition filed in February this year.

Mentioning the matter before the court, advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, representing Thackeray faction, pointed out that the issue has not come up for hearing despite the top court’s last order of February 22 directing it to be listed after three weeks. The bench, however, said the matter is listed for hearing on July 31.

When Tiwari requested for an early date, the bench refused. “There is a constitution bench sitting this month. We will have it on July 31,” the bench remarked.

On February 22, the apex court had sought the response from the poll body on correctness of its February 17 order granting the Shiv Sena party name and symbol to the Shinde group. It had also sought a response from the Shinde group.

Challenging the EC order, the Thackeray faction in a fresh application said the matter requires an urgent hearing as the impugned order is illegal in view of the May 11 judgment of the Constitution bench of top court.

The EC ruling, following the triple-test benchmark, had come on a petition by the Shinde faction, staking claim to the party symbol and name. Though the dispute was not clear on the first two tests pertaining to objectives of the party constitution and the majority in the party organisation, the EC order employed the third yardstick of majority of each faction in the legislative wing.

Shinde-led faction enjoyed support of 40 of the 55 MLAs, translating to 76% of the total votes polled by the undivided party in the 2019 assembly elections. The poll panel also noted that 13 of the 18 Lok Sabha members of the Shiv Sena were on Shinde’s side, translating to 73% of the total votes polled in the 2019 general elections.

The Thackeray group challenged the rationale behind the EC order, accusing the poll body of failing to discharge its duties as a “neutral arbiter” under the Election Symbols Order, 1968.