Key Points

A Bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan, and N. Kotiswar Singh agreed to fix the matter for hearing next month after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Uddhav Thackeray, submitted that the matter required urgent consideration as local polls in Maharashtra are scheduled for January 2026.

“We will hear all the parties on November 12, and if need arises, we can continue the hearing on November 13,” the apex court said.

Sibal also sought an urgent hearing on another plea filed by the Shiv Sena(UBT) faction. The plea challenged the ruling of the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker, who declined to disqualify 16 MLAs from the ruling camp, including then Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, holding that the Shinde group constituted the real "Shiv Sena" as it commanded a majority in both the legislature and the party’s National Executive.

To this, the Justice Kant-led Bench remarked that Sibal should obtain the permission of the Chief Justice of India (CJI), who is the master of the roster, for a joint hearing since the other petition is pending before a different Bench.

Earlier in March 2023, the apex court had refused to stay the ECI decision recognising the Eknath Shinde faction as the official Shiv Sena and granting it the party name and symbol. However, it agreed to entertain a plea by Uddhav Thackeray challenging the decision.

"We cannot pass an order to stay the Election Commission order. We are entertaining the SLP (special leave petition by Thackeray against the EC order). We cannot stay the EC order today," remarked a bench headed by then Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud.

Thackeray, in his plea filed before the apex court, contended that the poll body has failed to appreciate that he enjoys overwhelming support in the rank and file of the party.

Further, the plea alleged that the ECI has failed to discharge its duties as a neutral arbiter of disputes under para 15 of the Symbols Order and has acted in a manner undermining its constitutional status.

In response, the poll body in its counter-affidavit has told the top court that it has passed a "well-reasoned" order, in a quasi-judicial capacity, allotting the name and party symbol of the Shiv Sena to the Shinde faction.

"Since the impugned order was passed not in an administrative capacity of the commission but in a quasi-judicial capacity under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order, it has no contentions to make on the merits of the case as the impugned order is a well-reasoned order and covers all the issues raised by the petitioner," the ECI said.

- IANS