Delhi High Court dismisses Thackeray's plea against EC's freeze on use of Shiv Sena name, symbol

Thackeray claimed in his petition the party symbol is intrinsically identified with it, having been used since the inception of the Shiv Sena

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea filed on behalf of former Maharastra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray against the Election Commission's decision to freeze the Shiv Sena's 'bow and arrow' party symbol.

Justice Sanjeev Narula passed the order, declining to interfere with the interim order by the EC, challenged on the ground of being against the principle of natural justice among others.

The court, however, directed the EC to adjudicate the dispute between Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions of Shiv Sena as expeditiously as possible.

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Both the factions laid their claim to the party's name of Shiv Sena and its symbol.

In an interim order on October 8, the EC restrained both the camps from using the name of 'Shiv Sena' party and the symbol until it decides which of the two rival factions is entitled to use them.

Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Devdatt Kamat appeared for Thackeray, and senior advocates Rajiv Nayar and Neeraj Kishan Kaul for Eknath Shinde.

On September 27, the Supreme Court had rejected Thackeray's plea to restrain the Election Commission from examining a claim made by Shinde over 'Shiv Sena' and the party symbol of 'bow and arrow'.