New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray against the Election Commission’s interim order freezing Shiv Sena’s name and the party’s election symbol. Justice Sanjeev Narula asked the EC to expeditiously decide the issue pertaining to the use of the party symbol –‘bow and arrow’, saying it is in the interest of the two Shiv Sena factions as well as the general public, according to media reports.
The court also observed that an expeditious disposal of the issue would be in the interest of the parties as well as the public, noting that there was no “interdict” on the matter by the Supreme Court.
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On day two, senior counsel Kapil Sibal appearing for Thackeray argued that the ECI at the outset should have realised that it can’t assume that there are two factions of the same party. “Petition before the Commission has only been filed by Eknath Shinde; the ECI can’t assume that he is a part of the Shiv Sena. That is yet to be considered,” Sibal said.
He argued that even while passing an interim freezing order, the ECI should have heard his client as it has done in various orders before it. “Never before has the ECI ever passed an order of freezing a symbol without hearing the parties,” Sibal contended.
He further took the High Court through the timeline of the matter, beginning from July 19 when Shinde approached the ECI laying claim on the name and symbol. Sibal said that on several occasions, his client asked the ECI to provide the documents filed by Shinde in the matter, however, the same was not provided to him.
Sibal said that the ECI, after several requests, provided his client with a Google link of the documents without the password on October 4 which was given after his client again contacted the body. “On October 7 I filed my preliminary reply and I applied for an oral hearing. They (ECI) say to me that please file a reply by tomorrow and did not grant me an oral hearing. I wrote to them saying that this conduct of yours as ECI is malicious,” Sibal submitted.
The Election Commission, in its October 8 interim order, barred the Shiv Sena factions led by Thackeray and Shinde from using the party’s name and its election symbol in the Andheri East assembly by-poll. In response to Thackeray’s challenge to the order, EC lawyer Sidhant Kumar told the court that the poll panel has dealt with the matter with due expedition and will continue to do so, and has asked for “everything to be completed by November 23”.
He added there was no breach of fair play and it may not be appropriate for the court to intervene and set a precedent for future cases.
“We will, as expeditiously as possible, proceed and finish the hearing. That would be the endeavour in every symbol case. It may not be appropriate in these circumstances, when there is no fault of the EC or there is undue delay, that the court may intervene and set a precedent for other matters to follow,” Kumar said. The Commission will hear the objections from both sides and decide the matter, he added.
