SC refers Sena dispute to constitution bench; next hearing on Aug 25

The Supreme Court on Tuesday referred the case relating to the claim over Shiv Sena to a constitutional bench. It framed eight questions for the larger bench to decide in the battle between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Hima Kohli referred the petitions to the five-member constitution bench that will hear the plea on Thursday.

EC asked to wait

The top court also asked the Election Commission not to proceed with action on the party symbol dispute between Thackeray and Shinde camps till Thursday.

Also read: Eknath Shinde camp cannot function without money, loyal shiv sainiks with me: Uddhav

On a prayer made by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing on behalf of the Uddhav camp, to restrain the Election Commission from deciding on Shinde’s claim as the official Shiv Sena party, the CJI agreed to post the matter before the constitution bench on Thursday to consider the interim relief.

The court was hearing the pleas filed by Shiv Sena factions led by Thackeray and Shinde on the disqualification of MLAs and other technical issues.

Shinde vs Thackeray

Shinde had late last month urged the Supreme Court to dismiss all pleas by Thackeray’s team, and let the Election Commission decide whose faction is the real Shiv Sena. Claiming that he commands the numbers — and, therefore, the Sena — Shinde also submitted that courts shouldn’t interfere with internal party decisions “taken democratically by the majority”.

Also read: ED arrests Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut in money laundering case

A rebellion by Shinde and 39 of 55 MLAs of the Shiv Sena led to the collapse of the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in June. After the collapse of the MVA government, Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis is the Deputy Chief Minister in the new government.