Ahead of hearing in the Supreme Court related to the dispute between two factions of NCP over the clock symbol, the Sharad Pawar camp has filed a fresh affidavit in the Apex Court, seeking that the Ajit Pawar faction should not be allowed to use the ‘clock’ symbol till final adjudication of the dispute by the apex court.
Alleging that Ajit Pawar, who led the breakaway party, created ‘confusion’ in the minds of voters and attempted to take ‘unduly’ benefit of the goodwill associated with the symbol while the matter was sub-judice, the affidavit sought permission from the Apex Court to submit six documents to prove the allegation.
The affidavit claimed that Ajit Pawar, who was directed by the top court of the country to specify in campaign advertisement materials that the symbol issue was sub-judice, had violated the disclaimer condition, and continued to do so till date.
The said documents, annexure A-1 to A-6, were part of the record and germane to the issue and vital for proper adjudication of the present case. They were relevant for proper appreciation of the facts of the present case as they established the blatant non-compliance of the SC orders dated March 19, 2024 and April 4, 2024, as being done by respondent No. 1 (Ajit Pawar), till date, added the affidavit.
Ajit Pawar was represented by Senior Advocate Balbir Singh, along with Advocates Siddharth Dharmadhikari and Abhikalp Pratap Singh. Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for Sharad Pawar.
Earlier, Ajit Pawar had filed a compliance affidavit, apprising the Apex Court that he had published disclaimers in seven Marathi, two Hindi and two English newspapers. He claimed that Sharad Pawar was only trying to mislead the Court, while Ajit was following the directions.
On November 13, the Supreme Court had asked the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar to desist from using the photographs or videos of Sharad Pawar in their campaign materials for the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Noting that Ajit Pawar should stand on his feet, the Bench had directed him to issue an electronic circular among candidates and office bearers not to use the video clip or photograph of Sharad Pawar.