Challenge to allotment of Shiv Sena name, symbol to Eknath Shinde faction: Supreme Court lists case on July 31

The Supreme Court is set to hear on July 31 the plea by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction leader, Uddhav Thackeray challenging the decision of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to allot the ‘Shiv Sena’ name and the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol to the faction led by incumbent Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde..A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud listed the matter on July 31 after it was mentioned on Monday morning..In February, the top court had refused to stay the ECI order recognising the Eknath Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena and granted it permission to use the name 'Shiv Sena', and the bow and arrow symbol for its party.The Court, however, issued notice on the plea by the Uddhav Thackeray faction against a February 17 ECI order..The Shiv Sena political party split into two factions last year, one led by Thackeray and the other by Shinde, who went on to replace Thackeray as Maharashtra's Chief Minister in June 2022.Shinde had then petitioned the ECI staking a claim to the 'Shiv Sena' name and the bow and arrow symbol. The ECI relied on the strength of the legislative wing of the party to arrive at its decision rather than on the test of its organisational wing.The ECI explained that although it had attempted to apply the test of the organisational wing, it could not come to any satisfactory conclusion because the latest Constitution of the party was not on record.The claims of numerical majority in the organisational wing of the party by both factions were not satisfactory, the ECI had opined.Hence, it proceeded to rely on the test of who had the majority in the legislative wing.The Shinde faction was noted to have 40 Members in the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) as against the Thackeray faction's 15 MLAs.Likewise, in the Lok Sabha as well, out of 18 Members of Parliament (MPs), 13 MPs supported the Shinde faction, while only 5 supported the Thackeray faction, the ECI found.As such, the ECI ruled in favour of the Shinde faction and allowed it to retain Shiv Sena name and the bow and arrow symbol..Supreme Court declines to stay EC order recognising Eknath Shinde faction as Shiv Sena; allows Thackeray to use 'flaming torch' for bye-polls.On a related note, in the course of deciding a case concerning Maharashtra politics, a Constitution bench led by CJI Chandrachud had said that the Speaker and the ECI are empowered to concurrently adjudicate on the petitions before them concerning defection and rival claims on who constitutes the real political party.While adjudicating petitions under paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order, the ECI may apply a test that is best suited to the facts and circumstances of the case before it, the Court had added.