"Supreme Court Postpones Shiv Sena Election Symbol Dispute Until After Hearing Article 370 Case"
The Supreme Court has announced that the long-standing dispute over the allotment of the 'Shiv Sena' name and its 'bow and arrow' symbol will be taken up for hearing after the Article 370 case is dealt with. Advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, representing former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackerey, raised the Shiv Sena case, urging for an early hearing and citing a previous Constitution bench judgment in the Maharashtra Politics case.
However, the Court declined an immediate hearing, stating that the matter requires sufficient time for a final decision. The bench, consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asserted that the case will be listed after the conclusion of the Article 370 case.
The dispute arose when incumbent Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde, staked a claim to the 'Shiv Sena' name and the bow and arrow symbol after replacing Thackeray as the party split into two factions. The Election Commission of India (ECI) had allotted the symbol to the Shinde faction based on the strength of its legislative wing rather than relying on the test of its organizational wing. Thackeray's faction had challenged the ECI's decision in the Supreme Court, which led to the ongoing legal proceedings.
The Constitution bench of the Supreme Court is set to commence the final hearings in the Article 370 case, which has taken precedence over the Shiv Sena dispute. Once the Article 370 case is concluded, the Court will address the contentious matter surrounding the Shiv Sena name and symbol allocation.
TAGS: Supreme Court Shiv Sena election symbol dispute Article 370 Constitution Chief Justice hearing Uddhav Thackerey Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde Election Commission of India faction split organizational wing legislative wing Constitution bench judgment legal proceedings.
