Plea in Supreme Court over NCP’s clock symbol: A relook at war between factions

With just weeks to go before state Assembly elections in Maharashtra, the Sharad Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday once again urged the Supreme Court to bar the Ajit Pawar-led group from using the iconic “Clock” symbol of the party.
Voting in the state is scheduled for November 20, following over 2 years of political and legal battle over the control of two major parties- NCP and Shiv Sena.
India Today takes a look at the legal tussle still playing out in the Supreme Court:
The two issues in focus before the court are the recognition of the ‘real party’, which would use the long-standing symbols of the undivided party, and the disqualification of “rebel” MLAs by House Speaker Rahul Narvekar.
While the party split and the disqualification of MLAs was the starting point of the legal battle from a political point of view, the more important issue is the Election Commission decision on the ‘real’ party and who would have the right to use the long-standing symbol.
After the poll body, in 2022, recognised the faction headed by Eknath Shinde as the ‘real’ Shiv Sena, with the name, party symbol and assets going to them, while the faction headed by Uddhav Thackeray got the name ‘Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackaray- or the SHS (UBT). The issue has largely gone to the backburner.
The Election Commission ruled on February 17, 2023, allowing the Uddhav Thackaray-led faction to use the name Shiv Sena (UBT) and the “Mashaal” symbol. The verdict was challenged before the Supreme court by Uddhav, who claimed that the Speaker and the poll panel based their decision on incorrect criteria of the numbers in the ‘legislative party’ and not the main political party.
On February 22, 2023, the top court directed that “protection which has been granted in paragraph 133 (IV) of the impugned order of the Election Commission of India dated February 17, 2023, shall remain in operation”.
The main issue has not been heard so far, and no date has been given for hearing since September 2023.
The Sharad Pawar faction lost the battle before the poll panel, which recognised Ajit Pawar as the leader of the main NCP, while the split group would now be called the NCP (Sharatchandra Pawar).
In February 2024, the plea challenging the Election Commission decision was filed by Sharad Pawar, who has said that the decision was erroneous. Additionally, the veteran leader challenged the decision allowing Ajit Pawar to use the ‘Clock’ symbol of the NCP. In multiple applications filed before the top court, it has been argued that the use of the clock symbol “confused” voters.
In March, the Supreme Court directed that the NCP Sharatchandra Pawar, would use the ‘Man Blowing Turha’ symbol, which shall not be allotted to any other political party or any independent candidate.
Additionally, the court directed Ajit Pawar’s party to “issue a public notice in the newspapers with Marathi, Hindi and English editions, notifying that the allocation of the Clock symbol is sub-judice before this Court”. The declaration was also directed to be “incorporated in every pamphlet, advertisement, audio, or video clip to be issued” on behalf of the NCP (Ajit Pawar).
After the Lok Sabha elections, however, the Sharad Pawar-led faction argued before the court that the permission to use the Clock symbol must be withdrawn.
During a brief hearing on October 22, the lawyer appearing for the Sharad Pawar faction argued that they had “lost out” on votes during the recent Lok Sabha elections, as the votes “meant for” Sharad Pawar also went to the Ajit Pawar group due to confusion of the party name and Symbol.
He also argued that not only has the NCP failed to issue disclaimers about separation of the groups, symbols that look similar to theirs like the ‘turha’ were being issued as ‘free symbols’ by the Election Commission. This matter is now scheduled to be heard on October 24.
The implosion of the Shiv Sena in 2022 led to the toppling of the then government, with Eknath Shinde assuming charge as the Chief Minister of a BJP-supported government and head of the ‘new’ Shiv Sena.
Meanwhile, the Uddhav faction moved disqualification applications against 39 MLAs for violating the ‘party whip’. Shinde also filed disqualification pleas against the MLAs who supported Uddhav Thackaray on similar grounds of ‘anti-party activity’.
Similar petitions were also filed before the Speaker after the 2023 split of the NCP, with both Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar calling for disqualification of each other’s MLAs.
Both batches of petitions remained pending before the Speaker of the state Assembly, till the Supreme Court set a timeline for the Speaker to take a decision, after the warring factions approached the Court against the Speaker for delaying the issue.
The matter played out in court, till Speaker Rahul Narvekar finally passed orders on January 10, 2024, dismissing all disqualification applications.
The matter came back to the Supreme Court, with the UBT faction and the NCP Sharad moving appeals challenging the Speaker’s decision.
The records show that the matter has remained “on the board” of the court for hearing since August, and has been listed on 15 dates with no hearing on the matter.
Speaking to India Today, one of the lawyers, who did not wish to be named, clarified that “the symbols issue would be the only urgent issue that is relevant for now, whether it is in court or outside. As far as the disqualification issue is concerned, the clock will reset as soon as the election takes place, it will only be an exercise to set a legal precedent for any future disputes”.
The 288-seat Maharastra Assembly will go to single-phase polls on November 20, while the results will be declared on November 23.