The Supreme Court decided to examine a plea by NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar against the Election Commission’s decision to recognise the faction led by Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar as the real political party.
A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice K V Vishwanathan directed that the interim order passed by the Election Commission allowing the petitioner the right to use Nationalist Congress Party – Sharad Chandra Pawar would continue till further orders.
The court also allowed the petitioner to approach the Election Commission for allocation of the symbol, stating that it shall be allotted within one week of filing the application. The Supreme Court bench also issued notice to Ajit Pawar faction on the plea seeking its response within two weeks.
Appearing for Sharad Pawar, Senior advocate A M Singhvi contended the court should allow the use of the party name and give the petitioner the symbol. The Senior Advocate said that in an interim order, the Election Commission has said that the Ajit Pawar side is the real NCP, but for the Rajya Sabha elections, Sharad Pawar can use the name as a one-time measure. He added that the Maharashtra Assembly election is starting from Tuesday.
Senior Advocate Singhvi further expressed that it is astonishing that Sharad Pawar’s symbol was the clock and party name NCP but the verdict gave him an interim symbol for the purpose of Rajya Sabha elections. It is an absurd situation, he exclaimed. He further claimed it was strange that Sharad Pawar group had to obey the whip by the Ajit Pawar faction.
Nonetheless, the court decided to consider the matter and scheduled it for hearing after three weeks. In the plea, Sharad Pawar challenged the Election Commission’s decision of February 6, recognising the group by Ajit Pawar as the NCP and awarding it the party symbol of Clock.
The petition has been lodged through advocate Abhishek Jebraj. Ajit Pawar’s faction has already filed a caveat in the matter.