Uddhav Thackeray moves SC: EC biased, have majority in Rajya Sabha, Legislative Council

Stating that he enjoys majority in the Legislative Council and Rajya Sabha, Thackeray said that in a situation where there is a conflict in the legislative majority, along with the possibility of some of the members losing their right of membership, the legislative majority alone is not a safe guide for the purpose of adjudicating a petition under Para 15 of the Symbols Order.

Para 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, deals with the EC’s powers regarding splinter groups or rival factions of a recognised party.

Accusing the EC of acting in a biased and unfair manner, the plea said the poll panel had failed to discharge its duties as a neutral arbiter of disputes under Para 15 of the Symbols Order, and had undermined its constitutional status.

Thackeray also contested the EC’s findings that the party constitution was “undemocratic”. He said there was absolutely no challenge to the provisions of the party constitution till the matter was being heard, when, for the first time, an objection was raised about the validity of the amended constitution.

As there was no challenge, he never had the opportunity to rebut it, he said. Shinde too was appointed as a Shiv Sena deputy leader under the amended party constitution of 2018, he said. Having reaped the benefit for four years, he cannot now turn back and challenge the constitution, he said.

Thackeray urged the court to hear the plea along with a batch of petitions filed by both the Sena groups in the wake of last year’s political fallout that led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance government headed by him in the state. A five-judge Constitution bench of the SC is due to take up the rival batch of petitions for hearing on Tuesday.

On Monday, Senior Advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Thackeray, attempted to mention the plea before a bench presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, seeking urgent hearing. The CJI, however, asked him to mention it on Tuesday as it did not figure in Monday’s mentioning list.

Thackeray contended that the scope of the EC’s power regarding determination of a split within a party is an issue pending adjudication by the SC, and the poll body should not have ventured to decide on the Shiv Sena split now.

Pointing out that the EC had concluded that the disqualification under the Tenth Schedule and proceedings under Para 15 of the Symbols Order operate in different spheres and that disqualification is not based on cessation of membership of that political party, the plea said this was in complete ignorance of Para 2(1) (a) of the Tenth Schedule which envisages cessation of membership of the party based on which the said member is liable to be disqualified.

Stating that the Shinde camp, in its petition before the EC, had only mentioned the split in the legislative party and not the political party, Thackeray said the poll panel had erred in holding that there was a split in the political party.

He said the poll body failed to appreciate that he enjoys overwhelming support in the rank and file of the party.

In its 77-page order last week, the three-member poll panel had relied on the test of majority, which the Shinde faction was able to prove it had with the support of 40 out of 67 MLAs and MLCs in Maharashtra, and 13 out of 22 MPs in both Houses of Parliament.

The EC said the 40 MLAs of the Shinde group had got 76% of the votes polled by the 55 Shiv Sena MLAs in the 2019 elections, as opposed to 23.5% for the MLAs in the Thackeray camp.