New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to decide which faction of the Shiv Sena rivals is ‘real’.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud declined to stay the proceedings of the Eknath Shinde-led group claiming recognition as the real Shiv Sena.
The bench said that “We direct that there would be no stay of the proceedings before the Election Commission of India. Accordingly, the Interlocutory Application is dismissed,”.
During the hearing, Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Thackeray group, argued that Shinde has incurred disqualification as his various acts amount to voluntary giving up of the party membership under Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule and also he has violated the party whip.
He said that allowing the Election Commission to decide Shinde’s claim can result in “irreparable damage” to the Thackeray group.
Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for the Shinde group, claimed that over 1.5 lakh party members had sent their representations to the Election Commission supporting the Shinde group.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that “This is a political question and it is not the first time that such a split has happened and to decide which faction is the real party. It is the election commission which is equipped to look into this.”
(With Agency Inputs)
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