Shiv Sena symbol row: SC refuses to stay EC order in a setback to Uddhav Thackeray 

In a setback to Uddhav Thackeray, the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday refused to stay the Election Commission's order that the Shinde faction is the real Shiv Sena. During a hearing on a plea against the order, the top court said that it cannot stay the order at this stage. The court, however, clarified that the Uddhav Thackeray camp can pursue other remedies of law if any action was taken which was not based on the EC order.

The apex court has issued notice to the Eknath Shinde camp on the petition filed by Uddhav Thackeray against the EC's order. It has asked the Shinde camp to file a reply to the petition. The SC has posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.

Last week, the EC recognised the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena and allotted it the 'bow and arrow' poll symbol. The Commission allowed the Thackeray faction to keep the "flaming torch" poll symbol allocated to it till the completion of the assembly by-polls in the state.

The EC said MLAs backing Shinde got nearly 76 per cent of votes polled in favour of the 55 winning Shiv Sena candidates in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls. The Thackeray faction's MLAs got 23.5 per cent of votes polled in favour of the winning Shiv Sena candidates.

On Monday, the faction moved the SC challenging the decision of the commission. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud for an early petition listing. The CJI, however, refused to pass any order. "The rule applies equally to all, whether left, right or centre. Come tomorrow through a proper process," the bench had said.

(With inputs from PTI)