Thackeray vs Shinde: SC refers plea to Constitution bench, tells EC not to decide on poll symbol
The five-member constitution bench will hear the plea on Thursday. The top court also asked the Election Commission not to proceed with action on the party symbol dispute between Thackeray's and Shinde's camps till Thursday.
FollowThe Supreme Court on Tuesday referred the matter involving the Shiv Sena claim and matters related to recent Maharashtra political crisis to Constitution bench. In the dispute between Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, it posed eight questions for the bigger bench to consider.
The Supreme Court also ordered the Election Commission to hold off on taking any further action until Thursday in the party symbol issue between Thackeray's and Shinde's camps. The appeal will be heard on Thursday by the five-member constitution bench.
The Shiv Sena factions led by Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray filed petitions in court over the disqualification of MLAs as well as other technical matters.
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Late last month, Shinde urged the Supreme Court to reject all of Uddhav Thackeray's arguments and let the Election Commission to determine which section of the Shiv Sena is the actual one. Shinde also argued that judges shouldn't intervene with internal party decisions "made democratically by the majority" since he claimed to control the numbers and, thus, the Sena.
In June, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) administration, which was headed by Uddhav Thackeray, was overthrown by Shinde and 39 of the Shiv Sena's 55 MLAs. With the backing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shinde was sworn in the chief minister following the fall of the MVA administration. Devendra Fadnavis, a prominent member of the BJP, serves as the new administration's deputy chief minister.
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