Maharashtra news: The Supreme Court Thursday asked the Election Commission not to take any decision for now on the Eknath Shinde faction's plea that it be considered the real Shiv Sena and granted the party poll symbol. A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said it would take a call by Monday on referring the matters related to the recent Maharashtra political crisis to a constitution bench.
"We will decide whether to refer the matter to the 5-judges constitution bench," the bench, also comprising justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli, said. The apex court was hearing the petitions filed by the Shiv Sena and its rebel MLAs during the recent Maharashtra political crisis which raised constitutional issues including those related to splits, mergers of political parties, defections, and disqualifications.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that party MLAs loyal to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde can save themselves from disqualification under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution only by merging with another political party. The bench, headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana, asked the Shinde faction, represented in court by senior advocate Harish Salve, to redraft the legal issues of split, merger, defection and disqualification raised in petitions filed by the Thackeray camp that are to be adjudicated upon following the recent political crisis in Maharashtra.
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Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Thackeray faction, told the bench there is no constitutional protection for disqualification under the 10th schedule. So, you either have to merge or form a new political party, Sibal told the bench, also comprising justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli.
Rebutting the arguments, Harish Salve said the anti-defection law is not a weapon for a leader who has lost the confidence of his own party to lock his members and somehow hang on. Salve said it is not the case where the MLAs have voluntarily given up their membership of the political party. The top court had asked Salve to redraft his submissions on petitions filed by the rival Uddhav Thackeray group on constitutional issues arising from the recent political crisis in the state.
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