Delhi, 19 February (H.S): The Supreme Court is set to hear a plea filed by Sharad Pawar on Monday, challenging an Election Commission order that recognized the Ajit Pawar-led faction as the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and KV Viswanathan will hear the plea, which was urgently listed on February 16 after Sharad Pawar expressed concerns about possible whip violations by his MLAs. The veteran leader had sought an urgent hearing in light of a February 15 order by Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, who declared the Ajit Pawar faction as the real NCP and stated that anti-defection laws cannot be used to suppress internal dissent. The Election Commission had also announced on February 6 that the Ajit Pawar faction is the real NCP and allotted them the party’s ‘clock’ symbol. With a special assembly session beginning on February 20, Sharad Pawar filed the petition through his lawyer Abhishek Jebaraj. The Ajit Pawar faction, on the other hand, has filed a caveat in the Supreme Court to prevent any ex-parte order in favor of the Sharad Pawar group.
In its 140-page order, the Election Commission stated that they believe the Ajit Pawar faction is the legitimate NCP and can use the party’s name and symbol as per the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order of 1968.
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