Real ‘Sena’ battle: ‘Sin’ of defection should not be rewarded, Uddhav camp tells SC

Shiv
Se a
(UBT)
chief
Uddhav
Thacke ay
add esses
a
p ess
co fe e ce,
at
Ba d a,
i
Mumbai.
(PTI
Photo)

NEW
DELHI:
The
Uddhav
Thacke ay-led

Shiv
Se a
(UBT)
o
Thu sday
told
the

Sup eme
Cou t
that
co stitutio al
p ovisio s
ca ot
be
i te p eted
i
a
way
that
e cou ages
the
ve y
co duct
the
a ti-defectio
law
was
e acted
to
p eve t.
Appea i g
befo e
a
be ch
headed
by
Chief
Justice
Su ya
Ka t
du i g
the
fifth
day
of
hea i gs
o
the
pa ty
symbol
dispute,
se io
advocate

Kapil
Sibal
a gued
that
the
Co stitutio
should
ot
be
ead
i
a
ma e
that
ewa ds
defectio s
a d
weake s
democ atic
safegua ds.A
be ch
comp isi g
Chief
Justice
Su ya
Ka t
a d
Justices
Joymalya
Bagchi
a d
V
Moha a
was
hea i g
petitio s
filed
by
the
Thacke ay
factio
challe gi g
the
Electio
Commissio ‘s
decisio
to
ecog ise
the
Ek ath
Shi de-led
factio
as
the
eal
Shiv
Se a
a d
allot
it
the
pa ty’s
ame
a d
the
‘bow
a d
a ow’
symbol.”You
ca ‘t
i te p et
the
p ovisio s
of
the
Co stitutio
to
give
e cou ageme t
to
the
ve y
si
which
the
a ti-defectio
law
sought
to
p eve t,”
Sibal
told
the
be ch.Sibal
a gued
that
the
legal
test
fo
disqualificatio
is
fu dame tally
diffe e t
f om
the
test
fo
dete mi i g
whethe
a
political
pa ty
has
split.
“Split
is
completely
diffe e t,
a d
disqualificatio
is
completely
diffe e t,”
he
said,
addi g
that
subseque t
eve ts
may
be
eleva t
i
disqualificatio
p oceedi gs
but
ot
whe
decidi g
whethe
a
split
had
occu ed.He
told
the
cou t
that
the
case
p ese ted
a
oppo tu ity
to
lay
dow
the
law
fo
the
futu e
of
I dia
democ acy.

Calli g
the
situatio
a
“ve y
sad
state
of
affai s”,
Sibal
said
gove me ts
ofte
e su e
that
disqualificatio
p oceedi gs
emai
u decided.Whe
he
a gued
that
the
bu de
of
p ese vi g
democ acy
ested
o
the
judicia y,
the
be ch
espo ded
that
it
was
a
“collective
espo sibility”.
“We
a e
co scious
of
ou
ole.
The
Co stitutio
is
lived
by
the
people,”
the
be ch
obse ved.The
Chief
Justice
added,
“Let
us
ot
u de estimate
ou
othe
i stitutio s.
They
a e
also
quite
committed.”Sibal
eplied
that
while
Pa liame t
could
co ti ue
e acti g
laws,
it
was
ultimately
the
Sup eme
Cou t
that
had
the
autho ity
to
i te p et
a d
test
those
laws
agai st
the
Co stitutio .The
hea i g
has
bee
adjou ed
a d
will
co ti ue
o
18
August.Du i g
Wed esday’s
p oceedi gs,
the
Sup eme
Cou t
had
obse ved
that
it
would
fi st
have
to
dete mi e
whethe
a
split
had
occu ed
withi
the
Shiv
Se a,
oti g
that
a
divisio
could
o igi ate
i
the
legislatu e
pa ty
a d
late
sp ead
th ough
the
pa ty
o ga isatio
a d
p ima y
membe ship.Respo di g
to
that
obse vatio ,
Sibal
a gued
that
a
split
i
the
legislatu e
pa ty
could
ot
by
itself
amou t
to
a
split
i
the
political
pa ty.
“As
a
p opositio
of
law,
a
split
i
the
political
pa ty
ca
eve
a ise
me ely
f om
a
split
i
the
legislatu e
pa ty.
That
has
bee
decided
by
the
Co stitutio
Be ch
(i
a
judgme t),”
he
said.

He
also
questio ed
the
Electio
Commissio ‘s
app oach
i
decidi g
whethe
the e
was
a
ge ui e
dispute
withi
the
Shiv
Se a
a d
whethe
the
factio
app oachi g
it
had
exhausted
the
i te al
emedies
available
u de
the
pa ty
co stitutio .
Sibal
challe ged
the
Commissio ‘s
assessme t
of
the
Shiv
Se a’s
o ga isatio al
st uctu e,
i cludi g
the
powe s
of
the
pa ty
chief
a d
the
p ocess
fo
appoi ti g
o ga isatio al
office-bea e s.The
be ch
is
hea i g
two
petitio s
filed
by
the
Thacke ay
factio
i
2024
challe gi g
the
Electio
Commissio ‘s
o de
allotti g
the
‘bow
a d
a ow’
symbol
to
the
Ek ath
Shi de-led
factio
a d
the
Commissio ‘s
17
Feb ua y
2023
decisio
ecog isi g
it
as
the
o igi al
Shiv
Se a.