New Delhi [India], September 15 (ANI): The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction on Tuesday defended the Election Commission’s authority to determine which group represents the “real” Shiv Sena, arguing that the poll panel was entitled to examine the party’s constitution and organisational structure under Article 324.
The submission was made before a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, which resumed hearing challenges to the EC’s February 17, 2023 decision recognising the Shinde faction as the original Shiv Sena and allotting it the party name and ‘bow-and-arrow’ symbol.
Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for the Shinde faction, argued that the poll panel was empowered under Article 324 to examine a political party’s constitution and organisational structure while determining which faction represented the real party.
Kaul submitted that the constitution relied upon by the Thackeray faction was not the one registered with the Election Commission. He said the constitution placed on record in 1999 followed detailed correspondence between the party and the poll panel.
According to Kaul, the EC was entitled to examine whether the party’s organisational structure was genuinely democratic, particularly where key bodies were allegedly filled through ad hoc or nominated appointments.
Kaul contended that the poll panel was not acting as a civil court or adjudicating the validity of internal elections, but was assessing whether the party’s organisational structure represented the will of its cadre.
“The EC is not striking down internal elections or deciding who was rightly or wrongly elected in the manner of a civil court,” he said.
Defending the organisational majority test, Kaul said the Election Commission could not practically hold a referendum among every primary member of a political party. The cadre and grassroots workers, he argued, constituted the “lifeblood” of a political organisation and were directly connected with the electorate.
He further stressed that the Shinde faction had never claimed merely a split in the legislative wing, but maintained that there had been a split within the political party itself.
Kaul also referred to discontent among sections of the Shiv Sena cadre over the party’s alliance with political parties perceived to be ideologically opposed to the Sena’s original position.
The hearing remained inconclusive and will continue on Wednesday.
The apex court was hearing pleas challenging the Maharashtra Speaker’s refusal to disqualify MLAs of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction, as the group defended the Election Commission’s decision to recognise it as the “real” Shiv Sena.
It was also hearing the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction’s challenge to the EC’s February 17, 2023 order allotting the Shiv Sena name and ‘bow-and-arrow’ symbol to the Shinde camp. (ANI)
Shinde camp defends EC’s power to decide ‘real’ Shiv Sena before SC
