Supreme Court refuses to stay Election Commission proceedings on Eknath Shinde’s claim over Shiv Sena

Thackeray's side argued that disqualification petitions against the Shinde faction were pending before the Assembly Speaker under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) of the Constitution. Moreover, they contended that the ECI proceedings should be stayed till the Constitution Bench decides questions of law referred to it, which include whether the dissent of Shinde's faction, without subsequently forming a new party or merging with another, amounted to a "split" from the original Shiv Sena party. A "split" from the original political party without a subsequent merger with another party or formation of a new faction is not a defence under the Tenth Schedule since January 1, 2004. But Justice Chandrachud, speaking for the five-judge Bench, said it was a "bit of a problem" to accept the argument that proceedings before a constitutional authority like the ECI should be "stultified" merely for the fact that questions about the disqualification proceedings were referred to a Constitution Bench. "The mere fact that a reference has been made does not stall a constitutional authority like the Election Commission from taking recourse to its powers under the law… It is true the Tenth Schedule post January 1, 2004 does not recognise 'split'. On the other hand,… Read full this story

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