Supreme Court News: The Supreme Court has directed Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar groups to follow previous directions on use of symbols in the NCP dispute. NCP chief Ajit Pawar on Wednesday assured the Supreme Court that within 36 hours he will publish a disclaimer in leading newspapers, including Marathi dailies, saying that the use of the clock symbol by the NCP is a sub-judice matter.
The bench of Supreme Court Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Dutta and Ujjwal Bhuyan heard the petition filed by NCP Sharad Pawar. The petition sought to stop the NCP Ajit Pawar faction from using the ‘clock’ symbol in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Along with this, Sharad Pawar sought instructions to Ajit Pawar to apply for a new symbol to contest the assembly elections.
During the hearing in the court, senior advocate Balbir Singh claimed that the NCP is following all the conditions imposed by the Supreme Court for the use of the ‘clock’ symbol. He said the party has approached newspapers to publish a new affidavit. On this the court asked, “Why are you taking time to publish the disclaimer in the newspapers? In how many hours can you do it?” On this, advocate Balbir Singh said that it can be done within two-three days. The court said that you should publish the disclaimer in the newspapers within 24 hours or maximum 36 hours.
At the same time, advocate Pranjal Aggarwal, appearing for Sharad Pawar, said that Ajit Pawar’s group is destroying evidence by removing videos uploaded on social media without disclaimer. He lied on the contrary by saying that there was a disclaimer at the end of every video. He said photographs taken from Baramati constituency on November 1 show that there is no disclaimer on the posters of the Ajit Pawar party. When the bench asked what could be the solution, the advocate suggested that Ajit Pawar apply for a new symbol instead of the clock symbol.
During this, senior advocate Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who attended the hearing, argued on behalf of Sharad Pawar that due to repeated violations by Ajit Pawar, his side is being forced to come to the court. Singhvi said that he (Ajit Pawar) keeps saying that Sharad Pawar is our God. They know the benefit of using Sharad Pawar’s name and clock symbol and it is being violated again and again.
Let us tell you that before the Lok Sabha elections, on March 19 and April 4, the court had directed NCP to issue a disclaimer in all the campaign materials that the ‘clock’ symbol is under consideration in the court. On October 24, the court had directed Ajit Pawar to They should file an affidavit to the effect that the previous orders will be followed in the state assembly elections also. Apart from this, the bench verbally warned that it would initiate suo motu contempt case if its orders were violated.
