New Delhi: The Supreme Court, while hearing the dispute related to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), instructed Ajit Pawar’s faction not to use any photos or videos of rival Sharad Pawar ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly election.
Issuing the instructions further to its earlier order asking both sides to maintain their separate identities, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan told Ajit Pawar’s party to learn to stand on its own legs.
“Learn to stand on your own legs, now that you have ideological difference with Sharad Pawar. Once you have disassociated from Sharad Pawar you shouldn’t use his name, photo or video,” the apex court said, reported Bar & Bench.
Justices Kant and Bhuyan said both factions should focus on their side of the battlefield during campaigning as Maharashtra gears up for single-phase polling on November 20.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing NCP (Sharad Pawar), told the court that the veteran politician’s nephew Ajit is piggybacking on the goodwill of his uncle and not complying with the Supreme Court’s orders.
The top court had earlier directed Ajit’s faction to add a disclaimer in its election ads clarifying that the ‘clock’ symbol being used by the party is subject to the outcome of the ongoing legal battle between the two parties.
The next hearing in the case will be on November 19.
