Supreme Court of India Hears Shiv Sena Split Case

The Supreme Court of India has resumed final hearings to resolve a legal battle over the split of the Shiv Sena political party. The court is reviewing challenges brought by the faction led by Uddhav Thackeray against a February 17, 2023, order from the Election Commission of India. That order recognized the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the legitimate party and granted it the party name and the bow-and-arrow election symbol.

In addition to the Election Commission's order, the court is examining the Maharashtra Speaker's refusal to disqualify members of the legislative assembly from the Shinde camp. Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing the Shinde faction, argued that the Election Commission acted within its constitutional authority under Article 324 to assess the party's democratic structure and organizational majority. Kaul further contended that the Thackeray faction's constitution was not registered with the commission and that an organizational majority test is required to reflect the will of the party cadre.

The Thackeray faction maintains that the Shinde group's use of the party name and symbol is "illegitimate". The Shinde camp argues the split was a division driven by cadre discontent over ideological alliances rather than a simple legislative split. The proceedings remained inconclusive following Tuesday's session and are scheduled to continue on Wednesday.