New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay the decision of Election Commission (EC) to grant the Shiv Sena name and bow-and-arrow symbol to Eknath Shinde’s faction.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by the rival faction, headed by former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, seeking a stay on the EC order.
“They (Shinde camp) have already succeeded before the EC. We can’t now stay the order,” said Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud.
The court has sought a response from the Shinde faction in two weeks.
During the hearing, Justice Chandrachud iterated EC’s decision to allow Uddhav’s faction, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), to continue using the flaming torch symbol.
The rival Shiv Sena groups have been at loggerheads since Shinde led a rebellion along with 40 MLAs last summer, leading to the collapse of the Uddhav-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Shinde then formed the government with the support of BJP.
Last October, the EC directed both Uddhav and Shinde camps to refrain from using the Shiv Sena name or its symbol, which was frozen. EC at that time allotted ‘Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’ as the party name flaming torch symbol for Thackeray faction and ‘Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena’ as the name and flaming torch symbol for Shinde group.
On February 17, the EC resolved the issue, much to the dislike of Uddhav group.
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