Sena vs Sena: SC sends petitions to 5-judge Constitution bench

Story by  ATV | Posted by  Nakul Shivani • 1 Years ago
Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde
Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde

 

New Delhi

The Supreme Court on Thursday referred to a five-judge Constitution bench the issues involved in the petitions filed by rival groups of Shiv Sena in connection with the Maharashtra political crisis.

The case will now be heard on August 25.

The apex court three-judge bench headed by CJI NV Ramana also ordered the Election Commission of India not to decide till August 25 the application filed by Maharashtra's Chief Minister Eknath Shinde camp for recognition as the ‘real’ Shiv Sena party and allotment of the bow and arrow symbol to it.

Uddhav Thackeray-led camp of Shiv Sena had sought stay on the proceedings before the Election Commission of India on Eknath Shinde group's claim.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had also asked the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Rahul Narwekar not to take any action on the new disqualification notices issued against the members of Shiv Sena.

There are various petitions pending before the apex court filed by both the factions of Shiv Sena.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led faction had approached the top court challenging the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari's decision to invite Eknath Shinde to form the government and the consequent Speaker's election and floor test.

The Shinde group’s petition challenging the disqualification notices issued by the Deputy Speaker to 16 rebel MLAs as well as the appointment of Ajay Choudhary as Shiv Sena Legislature Party leader is also pending before the apex court.

On June 29, the top court had refused to stay the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30.

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After the apex court's order, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as the Chief Minister and Eknath Shinde was later sworn in as the CM.