New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on Monday a plea by the Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction against Election Commission proceedings on a petition by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led group for recognition as the real Shiv Sena.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli will hear the plea filed by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Thackeray faction, which claims that the ongoing proceedings before the poll panel needed to be stayed as it would impact the hearing here in the case.
Meanwhile, ahead of the crucial hearing, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday opposed the petitions filed by Thackeray faction in the Supreme Court. He said the petitions clearly demonstrate that the issues being agitated before the top court have become infructuous by the resignation of the then CM and are devoid of any merit and should be dismissed with costs.
Shinde said that accepting the argument of the Uddhav Thackeray’s faction would result in: “A minority tyranny within the House; anti-democratic and minority Government to continue illegally in office; a Chief Minister, who has lost the confidence of his own party to continue in the office”.
On the aspect of actions of the Governor, Shinde`s plea said Article 164 of the Constitution gives sole discretionary powers to the Governor to appoint the CM.
Recently, the poll panel asked the rival factions of the Shiv Sena led by Thackeray and Shinde to submit documents by August 8 in support of their claims on the election symbol — bow and arrow — of the political outfit.
The poll panel sources had said the two sides have been asked to submit documents, including letters of support from the legislative and organisational wings of the party and the written statements of rival factions.
After the notices were issued by the poll panel, the fresh plea was filed in a pending petition by Subhash Desai, the general secretary of the Shiv Sena in the top court. The Uddhav faction sought the nod of the top court to make the EC also a party besides staying the proceedings related to party and its symbol.
The fresh 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”.
The Thackeray group filed representation before the EC last week after the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena had written to the Commission seeking allocation of the party’s ‘bow and arrow’ election symbol to it, citing the recognition granted to them in the Lok Sabha and the Maharashtra Assembly.
The top court on July 20 had said the petitions filed by the Shiv Sena and its rebel MLAs during the recent Maharashtra political crisis raised constitutional issues including split, the merger of a political party, defection, and disqualification which may require consideration by a larger bench.
The bench, meanwhile, had extended the operation of its July 11 order by which it had asked Assembly Speaker not to proceed with a plea seeking disqualification of MLAs of Thackeray faction as sought by the Shinde group on grounds of defying the party whip during the trust vote and the election of the Speaker.
The bench is seized of a batch of pleas about the recent political crisis in Maharashtra that led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state.
The first one was filed by the Shinde faction during the summer vacation when some rebel Sena MLAs moved before it challenging the disqualification proceedings initiated by the Deputy Speaker.
