Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray, told the Delhi High Court Monday that the Election Commission of India’s order freezing the Shiv Sena party’s name and the ‘bow and arrow’ election symbol is “totally perverse”. Appearing for Thackeray, senior counsel Devadatt Kamat said, before a single judge bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula, “I’m a political party… today my entire political activity has come to a standstill”. “When a quasi-judicial authority passes an order which has several consequences on my right as a party it is, it (ECI) is the duty bound to be satisfied that a prima facie case is made out,” Kamat said. He further submitted that unless the ECI is prima facie satisfied, it cannot freeze the symbol. “I can’t use the name and symbol of my father today,” he added. Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, also appearing for Thackeray, submitted that the maintainability of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s claim on the symbol and the party name should be decided first, before passing a final order. Sibal argued, “Question is – is the Election Commission going to decide maintainability or not? If it is one final order everything will become infructuous…fundamental question is the maintainability of the petition…”. Sibal further said that an “expeditious disposal” means that it (ECI) will decide in Shinde’s favour, adding that the commission has not considered Thackeray’s objections. The High Court however remarked that the ECI’s order was with respect to the Andheri by-elections which had been conducted on November 3. “This order has run its life,” it said, adding that why should the court not await the final view on this issue. The HC also observed that it would ask the election body to decide the issue of allotting the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol in a time-bound manner, after hearing both factions. Thackeray-led Shiv Sena won the by-election earlier this month. Senior Counsel Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for Eknath Shinde, argued that Thackeray had raised these issues before the Supreme Court and the apex court heard the matter on several dates. “We have said that he (Shinde) was not disqualified, and it was only an internal dispute between the party. EC gave repeated opportunities to them to file a reply since July. They didn’t do so. They went to the Supreme Court to seek a stay which they weren’t granted.” After hearing the parties, the HC directed them to file brief note of submissions, and listed the matter for hearing on November 15. The Supreme Court in September rejected Thackeray’s prayer to stay proceedings pending before the ECI over a request by Shinde for recognition of his faction as the real Shiv Sena and the permission to use the party’s ‘bow and arrow’ election symbol. “We direct there shall be no stay on proceedings before the Election Commission. Interlocutory Application seeking stay stands dismissed,” a five-judge constitution bench, headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud, said. The Thackeray camp had approached the top court stating that while petitions arising out of the Maharashtra political crisis, fuelled by the rift in the Shiv Sena, were pending before it, the ECI “purportedly… initiated proceedings” under Para 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, on an application by the Shinde camp “inter alia seeking to be recognised as the ‘real Shiv Sena’ and claiming the right to use the bow-arrow election symbol” and had issued notice to Uddhav Thackeray on July 22. Uddhav Thackrey and Eknath Shinde’s factions approached the ECI laying claim to the party name “Shiv Sena” and the bow and arrow symbol but the election body in its October 8 interim order restrained both factions from using the party name and the symbol until it decides which among the two rival factions is entitled to use them. This came after Shinde and a majority of the Shiv Sena MLA’s withdrew from Thackeray’s government leading to its fall.
