A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana ordered the listing of petitions before the constitution bench on Thursday and directed the Election Commission not to pass any orders on Shinde faction's plea that it be considered the real Shiv Sena and granted the party's poll symbol.
"List the matter before the constitution bench the day after tomorrow and the bench will decide about the symbol related to the Election Commission proceeding at the beginning," the bench also comprising Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli said.
The SC also referred the petitions to a five-judge bench and said the case will be heard on August 25 by the bench. Earlier, the Supreme Court three-judge bench had said that some of the issues involved in the Maharashtra political crisis may require a larger Constitutional bench for consideration.
The top court, on the request of senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the Thackeray camp, posted the matter before the Constitution bench on Thursday for interim relief on Shiv Sena's symbol issue.
The bench was hearing pending cases related to the recent political crisis in Maharashtra that led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state.
Uddhav Thackeray-led faction had approached the top court challenging the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari's decision to invite Eknath Shinde to form the government and also the Speaker's election and floor test. Recently they had challenged Shinde group approaching the poll panel claiming they are 'real Shiv Sena'.
They had also challenged the newly appointed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker's action recognising the whip of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde group as the whip of Shiv Sena. The plea said the newly appointed Speaker has no jurisdiction to recognise whips nominated by Shinde as Uddhav Thackeray is still the head of Shiv Sena official party.
Thackeray camp's Sunil Prabhu had filed a plea seeking suspension from Maharashtra Assembly of new Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 rebel MLAs against whom disqualification pleas are pending.
The Shinde group challenged the disqualification notices issued by the Deputy Speaker to 16 rebel MLAs as well as the appointment of Ajay Choudhary as Shiv Sena Legislature Party leader, is also pending before the apex court.
On June 29, the top court gave a go-ahead to the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on June 30. Refusing to stay the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30, the bench had issued notice on Prabhu's plea against floor test.
After the apex court's order, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as the Chief Minister and Eknath Shinde sworn in as the chief minister with the support of the BJP. Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis is the Deputy Chief Minister in the new government.
On June 27, the top court had granted interim relief to Shinde and other rebel MLAs to file their reply on disqualification notices issued to them by Deputy Speaker by July 12, 5.30 pm. Earlier, Deputy Speaker had granted them time to file reply by June 27, 5.30 pm
Taking a jibe at Shinde, Uddhav Thackeray recently said that honest Sena workers are with him while the rebel camp led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Ekanath Shinde cannot function "without money".
Addressing Shiv Sena workers in Mumbai, the former chief minister said the people of Maharashtra are awaiting the Assembly elections so that they can "teach a lesson to the traitors". He said the Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government lacks the courage to advance the assembly elections.
Against this backdrop, the Sena chief said, “I do not care what the court decides. I respect the judiciary". A rebellion by Shinde and 39 of 55 MLAs of the Shiv Sena led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in June.
(With inputs from agencies)
