Setback for Uddhav in SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to stay the Election Commission order recognising the Eknath Shinde-led bloc as the real Shiv Sena and issued a notice to the group headed by the Maharashtra chief minister on the plea of the rival Uddhav Thackeray camp challenging the poll panel's decision.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Thackeray, and sought response of the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde.

The counsel for the Shinde faction told the bench, also comprising Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, that it will not issue any whip or initiate process to disqualify the lawmakers of the Thackeray faction in the meantime. "All right, issue notice. The counter affidavit will be filed within two weeks," the bench said. While issuing notice, the bench, however, refused to stay the decision of the poll panel acknowledging the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena, saying it cannot be done without hearing the other side. The top court had on Tuesday agreed to hear the plea of the Thackeray camp against the Election Commission's decision. Besides recognising the Shinde-led bloc as the real Shiv Sena, the poll panel had also ordered allotment of the party's original 'bow and arrow' poll symbol to it.

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has slammed the Election Commission's decision to award the Shiv Sena name and the "bow and arrow" symbol to the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, saying he has never seen such a decision from the poll body. "Certain organisations have a responsibility to deal fairly with everyone," Pawar said. "You must have seen a few days ago, the Election Commission gave a decision... have you ever seen the Election Commission take away the total control of one political party and give it to another? Never saw the EC take away total control of one party," Mr Pawar told reporters today.