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Uddhav faction moves SC to stay EC proceedings on ‘real’ Shiv Sena
At present, there is a court-ordered curb on disqualifying MLAs from both the Shinde and Uddhav camps by the Maharashtra Speaker.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction moved the Supreme Court on Monday to restrain the Election Commission of India from deciding whether the Eknath Shinde camp represents the “real Shiv Sena” and should be allowed to use the bow and arrow as its election symbol.
At present, there is a court-ordered curb on disqualifying MLAs from both the Shinde and Uddhav camps by the Maharashtra Speaker. But there is no judicial embargo on determination by the election commission as to which of the two factions is the real Shiv Sena entitled to use bow and arrow as its symbol.
Seeking to make election watchdog a party in the batch of petitions pertaining to the rift in the two camps of Shiv Sena, Thackeray loyalist Subhash Desai called it imperative that the poll body stays its hand when the entire gamut of disputes over disqualification of the MLAs from the respective factions and the validity of Shinde’s takeover as the state chief minister were yet to be decided by the top court.
“It is apposite and proper that the Election Commission ought not to proceed with petitions under the Symbols dispute till the final decision of this honourable court,” said Desai’s application, adding that any proceedings before the commission will interfere into the pending judicial proceedings, and thus, amounts to contempt of the court.
The plea complained that following Shinde’s petition on recognition of his camp as the real Shiv Sena, the poll body on July 22 served a notice on Thackeray “in complete disregard of the sanctity of proceedings pending before this hon’ble court and the role expected of the honourable ECI as a constitutional authority.”
Desai, therefore, requested the court to stay the proceedings before the ECI until the judicial determination of the dispute between the two factions. The plea terms the plea of the rival Shinde group to get the poll symbol and the tag of the real Shiv Sena as an act of desperation.
On July 19, the Shinde faction instituted the proceedings under para 15 of the 1968 Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, seeking to be recognised as the real Shiv Sena by the election overseer, and claimed the right to use bow and arrow as its election symbol – the one allotted to Shiv Sena under the Symbols Order. While the Shiv Sena has not split formally, the faction led by Shinde is supported by a majority of the party’s legislators.
Desai, on the next day, wrote to the commission, requesting the latter not to proceed with the matter in view of the pendency of various connected matters before the Supreme Court.
However, on July 22, the election commission initiated the proceeding under the Symbols Order, issuing notices to both sides and asked them to submit relevant documents by August 8 in support of their claims on the election symbol of the political outfit.
The two sides have also been asked by the commission to submit documents, including letters of support from the legislative and organisational wings of the party, and written statements of rival factions.
The top court, which will hear the matter next on August 1, is currently seized of a batch of six petitions filed by Shinde and Thackeray factions in relation to disqualification proceedings against the MLAs of both camps, election of Rahul Narwekar as new Speaker of the state assembly, recognition of a new party whip for Shiv Sena, and the governor’s directive to Thackeray for proving majority on the floor of the house and subsequently inviting Shinde to form the new government in the state.
While the first two petitions in the Supreme Court were filed by the Shinde faction to stop the deputy speaker (there was no speaker at the time) from disqualifying them as MLAs, the Thackeray camp also approached the apex court later, challenging the actions of the governor in directing Thackeray to prove the majority on the floor of the House as well as inviting Shinde to form the government in the state.
The Uddhav camp further challenged Narwekar’s decision to recognise Shinde as the leader of Shiv Sena and the appointment of a new chief whip of the party.
The interim order passed by the Supreme Court on June 27 put in abeyance the disqualification petitions pending against Shinde and 15 other MLAs till July 12. However, after Thackeray resigned on June 29 and the Shinde faction subsequently nominated its chief whip in the assembly, disqualification petitions were also filed against MLAs of the Thackeray camp for not voting in favour of Shinde during the trust vote on July 4. These MLAs from the Uddhav camp also approached the top court, taking the tally of petitions to six.
On the last date of hearing, a three-judge bench had remarked that a larger bench may be required to settle the points of law surrounding the dramatic takeover of Shinde as the Maharashtra chief minister in the wake of certain crucial constitutional issues emerging in the matter.
“Some of the issues are important constitutional issues which should be settled...Some of the issues such as consequences of removal of Para 3 (of Tenth Schedule which did away with immunity from disqualification for a split in a party) and absence of split concept; whether a minority party leader has right to disqualify majority party leaders...these are some of the issues which will require a decision,” the bench had observed on July 20.
On that day, the court gave the Thackeray and Shinde camps around a week to file their replies, written submissions and compilation of relevant judgments, fixing August 1 as the next date of hearing.
