NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar during the launch of party's new symbol, at Raigad Fort, in Raigad district.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar to use the Clock symbol and the Sharad Pawar group a man blowing a trumpet as election symbols.
The court also allowed Sharad Pawar to use Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Chandra Pawar) as the name of his party.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and K V Vishwanathan allowed the Ajit Pawar faction to use the name and symbol of the party, while orally expressing concerns over the current trend of defection in political parties being recognised as the real party by the Election Commission.
"When the Election Commission is recognising a faction only on the basis of legislative strength and not organisational strength, is it not recognising a split, which is no longer approved under the Tenth Schedule. That way, you can engineer defections and claim the party symbol. Will it be not mockery of voters," the bench said.
Senior advocate A M Singhvi for Sharad Pawar group questioned the Election Commission's decision to recognise Ajit Pawar group as the real party.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi for Ajit Pawar group said there was no question of defection as the EC recognised Ajit's group as the official NCP.
The court directed the Ajit Pawar group to make a public declaration that the use of clock symbol was subject to outcome of the proceedings.
In interim orders, the court also directed the undertaking filed by the Ajit Pawar faction against the use of Sharad Pawar's name and photo in posters would apply not only in Maharashtra but in other States as well.
On March 14, the court had asked the Ajit Pawar faction of Nationalist Congress Party as to why it was keen to use photographs of Sharad Pawar in posters in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections after parting ways with the founder of the party.
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