What happened (Supreme Court hearing and key discussion points)
The Supreme Court is hearing pleas by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) faction challenging the Election Commission’s 2023 recognition of the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the “original” Shiv Sena.
A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and including Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana focused first on whether there was, in fact, a split. The bench said a split could begin in the legislature party but may later spread into the broader party organisation and the party’s primary membership.
On that basis, the Supreme Court indicated that the Election Commission may need to consider wider organisational effects rather than treating the split as confined to legislature-level divisions only.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued that a split cannot arise merely because there is a split in the legislature party. The bench replied that constitutional reasoning does not restrict consideration only to legislature-party divisions, and it also does not rule out examining the split’s “epicentre” if the split starts in the legislature party and then manifests in the organisation and primary membership.
The bench sought clarity on the relevance of internal party structures. The bench pointed to support for the Shinde group that included “Rajya Prabharis”, which the bench described as members connected to the party’s structural system rather than an external body.
Related current affairs
- Will have to see if there was split in Shiv Sena: SC
- Sena (UBT) moves SC against MPs’ merger
- Having majority no reason for lawmakers to defy party, says SC
- SC seeks Lok Sabha Speaker’s response on merger of Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs
- A fifth of Telangana voters likely to be excluded from draft electoral rolls
- The Editorial Page: Election Commission’s real test—winning the confidence of the Opposition (continued from page header)