Mumbai: The Uddhav Thackeray faction has moved the Supreme Court against the proceedings of the Election Commission (EC) on the plea of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led camp for recognition as the real Shiv Sena and their claim over the party symbol, the bow and arrow. The development deserves importance, especially when the EC has asked the rival factions to submit documents supporting their claims on the symbol by August 8.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction has claimed that the EC cannot determine the real Shiv Sena till a decision on disqualification of rebel MLAs is made. It said in its petition, “If the EC is allowed to go ahead with the proceedings initiated by it on July 22, it would not only precipitate issues of great Constitutional import pending before this court, it would also cause irreparable injury to the applicant as any proceedings before the EC relying upon the petition of persons whose status as legislators is itself in question before this court will not be just and proper.”
According to the Uddhav Thackeray faction, the Eknath Shinde camp has been indulging in several illegal activities contrary to the constitution of the Shiv Sena. “Further, such proceedings would also be in teeth of settled law that an inquiry into a matter which is sub-judice before the court amounts to interference with the judicial proceedings and, thus, amounts to contempt of the court as has been held in a number of decisions of the apex court and various high courts,” the petition states.
In its representation to the EC, the Uddhav Thackeray faction urged it not to go ahead with the plea of the Shinde camp in view of the pendency of a batch of petitions in the top court. The petition terms the rival Shinde group’s plea to get the poll symbol and the tag of the real Shiv Sena as an act of “desperation”.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction had filed its representation before the EC after the Shinde camp had written to the poll panel seeking allocation of the party symbol to it, citing the recognition granted to them in the Lok Sabha and the Maharashtra Assembly.
