The Election Commission has informed the Supreme Court that it had passed a "well-reasoned" order, in a quasi-judicial capacity, to allot the name and party symbol of the Shiv Sena to the Eknath Shinde faction.
The EC filed a counter-affidavit, stating that the order had already been passed under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order, and thus, had no contentions to make on the case's merits. It added that the commission had become a functus officio, and the courts had held that the quasi-judicial body need not be arrayed as a party to the appeal in a catena of cases.
On February 22, the Supreme Court refused to stay the Election Commission decision recognizing the Eknath Shinde faction as the official Shiv Sena and granted it the party name and symbol.
However, Uddhav Thackeray challenged the decision, leading to the present proceedings.
