The Election Commission has submitted a response to a plea in Supreme Court challenging its decision to grant the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena party the use of the party's name and the "bow and arrow" symbol, news agency ANI reported.
๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ '๐๐ฒ๐น๐น-๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ'
The EC defended its decision as a "well-reasoned order" that addressed all concerns raised by the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the party.
โThe answering respondent humbly submits that since the impugned order was passed not in an administrative capacity of the Commission but in a quasi-judicial capacity under paragraph 15 of the Symbols order, it has no contentions to make on merits of the case as the impugned order is a well-reasoned order and covers all the issues raised by the petitioner. The Election Commission, thus, has become a functus officio for the present case since it has already discharged its duty to adjudicate the petition filed under paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order after passing of the impugned order,โ the ECI said in its reply.
๐๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ
"It is further submitted that the Honโble Courts in a catena of cases have held that where an order passed by a quasi-judicial body is under challenge before an appellate court, such a body need not be arrayed as a party to the appeal,โ the poll body went on to add.
๐ฆ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐, ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐
During the hearing of the plea filed by the Uddhav Thackeray group challenging the ECI order, the top court had served notice to both factions of the Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde.
Earlier, a bench consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha and Justice JB Pardiwala declined to grant a stay on the ECI order, stating that they could only deliberate on certain aspects of the order and not stay it at the current stage.
๐๐'๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ฒ
According to the ECI's order, the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena demonstrated qualitative superiority in the majority test during the legislative wing, as reflected in the election results. As a result, the ECI directed that the party name "Shiv Sena" and the party symbol "Bow and Arrow" should be retained by the Shinde faction. Meanwhile, the Thackeray faction was permitted to continue using the "flaming torch" poll symbol until the by-polls in Maharashtra are completed.
The ECI's order further stated that the Shinde faction's supporting MLAs received approximately 76% of the votes cast in favor of the 55 victorious Shiv Sena candidates in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, while the Thackeray faction's MLAs received only 23.5% of the votes cast in favor of the victorious candidates.
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