The Supreme Court Wednesday
refused to stay the Election Commission order recognising the Eknath Shinde-led
bloc as the real Shiv Sena and issued a notice to the group headed by
the Maharshtra chief minister on the plea of the rival Uddhav
Thackeray camp challenging the poll panel's decision.
A
bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions of
senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Thackeray, and sought response of
the faction led by Maharshtra Chief Minister Shinde.
The counsel for the Shinde faction told the bench, also comprising
Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, that it will not issue any whip or
initiate process to disqualify the lawmakers of the Thackeray faction in the
meantime.
All right, issue notice. The counter affidavit will be filed
within two weeks, the bench said.
While issuing notice, the bench, however, refused to stay the
decision of the poll panel acknowledging the Shinde faction as the real Shiv
Sena, saying it cannot be done without hearing the other side.
The top court had on Tuesday agreed to hear the plea of the
Thackeray camp against the Election Commission's decision.
Besides recognising the Shinde-led bloc as the real Shiv Sena, the
poll panel had also ordered allotment of the party's original 'bow and arrow'
poll symbol to it.