New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said that the Election Commission’s February 7 decision to name Sharad Pawar’s group as the party ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar’ will continue till further orders. Justice Surya Kant and Justice K. A bench of V. Vishwanathan sought response from the Ajit Pawar-led faction on Sharad Pawar’s plea against the Commission’s February 6 order declaring the group led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar as the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Issuing notice to the Ajit Pawar-led faction, the bench said, ‘We will look into the matter.’
The bench allowed Sharad Pawar to approach the Election Commission for allotment of the party symbol and directed the Commission to allot the election symbol to the group within a week of the application. Appearing to be critical of the Commission’s February 6 order, the bench said, ‘The order states that both of you (factions) violated the constitution of the party, both of you went against the ‘aim and objective’ and yet no one Not disqualified. Just imagine what will happen to those voters who have voted for you.
During the hearing, Justice Vishwanathan, referring to the recent situation in Pakistan, said, ‘Let the voters also have a say at some places. I don’t want to make any comparison, but if you have followed the elections across the border, you would know that all this happened because someone wanted the ‘bat’ election symbol and it was not given.
Senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Sharad Pawar, said that the Commission’s decision of February 7 is an interim arrangement till the Rajya Sabha elections are held on February 27. He said, ‘The session of Maharashtra Assembly is going to start from February 26 and after February 27, our group will have neither name nor symbol.’ Singhvi said, ‘It has been said in the order that Ajit Pawar’s group is the real NCP, we will challenge it later. But for Rajya Sabha elections, Sharad Pawar can use the name (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar) for one time. After February 27, technically we will have neither name nor election symbol and we will have to follow Ajit Pawar’s whip.
After this the bench said that it cannot regulate the proceedings of the House. Singhvi said, ‘We do not want any such instructions, we are only appealing for instructions that the Election Commission’s order of February 7 should be continued till the end of the general elections and the party symbol should be given. Because by the end of this month, pamphlets and banners will start being printed for the upcoming elections.
Sharad Pawar had requested for immediate hearing of his petition in the apex court. He had appealed for an immediate hearing in view of Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar’s order of February 15. Narvekar considered the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar to be the real NCP. He had said that the anti-defection provisions contained in the Constitution cannot be used to suppress internal dissent. Earlier, on February 7, the Commission had considered the Ajit Pawar faction as the real NCP and allotted it the party symbol ‘clock’.
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Tags: Ajit Pawar, election commission, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Sharad pawar, Supreme Court
FIRST PUBLISHED: February 20, 2024, 24:22 IST