HC reserves order on Uddhav Thackeray's appeal against decision freezing party name, symbol
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved its order on an appeal by former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray challenging a single judge's decision dismissing his plea against an Election Commission interim order freezing the Shiv Sena name and election symbol.
Thackeray claimed that the single judge's November 15 order, by which it had also directed the EC to expedite the proceedings, is "erroneous" and liable to be set aside.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad, after hearing arguments of counsels for both the parties, said, "We will pass appropriate orders."
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Thackeray, submitted that the EC did not hear him while passing the freezing of symbol order.
"Never in the history of the commission, freezing order has been passed without hearing the party," he argued.
The single judge bench, in its order, had said that there was "no procedural infraction" in the EC's order freezing the Shiv Sena's name and election symbol following a "split" in the party.
It had said the commission passed the freezing order in view of urgency in respect of allotment of symbol on account of announcement of bypolls and the petitioner, who repeatedly took time to furnish necessary documents, now cannot allege violation of principles of natural justice and criticise the poll panel.
"There is a split between members of the 'Shiv Sena', a recognised political party in the state of Maharashtra. One group or faction is led by Eknathrao Sambhaji Shinde and the other by Uddhav Thackeray. Both claim to be the president of the original Shiv Sena party, and stake claim to its poll symbol of 'bow and arrow'," the single judge had noted in its order.
Thackeray, in his appeal, claimed that there was no dispute on the leadership of the party and that Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknathrao Sambhaji Shinde himself admitted that Thackeray is and continues to be the rightfully elected president of the Shiv Sena political party.
Therefore, it cannot be said that there are two rival factions of the Shiv Sena political party, he said.
On October 8, the EC had passed an interim order barring the two Shiv Sena factions from using the party's name and its election symbol in the Andheri East assembly bypoll.
The commission's order was passed on a "dispute petition" filed by Shinde.
Earlier this year, Shinde had raised a banner of revolt against Thackeray, accusing him of entering into an "unnatural alliance" with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Over 40 of the Shiv Sena's 55 MLAs had supported Shinde, forcing Thackeray's resignation as chief minister.
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India to pursue extradition of Khalistani separatist Arsh Dalla with Canada following his arrest
New Delhi, Nov 14: India on Thursday said it will pursue an extradition request with Canada for Arsh Singh Gill alias Arsh Dalla, the de-facto chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force, following his arrest in that country.
Dalla was designated in India as a terrorist in 2023.
In July 2023, India had requested the Canadian government for his provisional arrest.
"In view of the recent arrest, our agencies will be following up on an extradition request," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
"Given Arsh Dalla's criminal record in India and his involvement in similar illegal activities in Canada, it is expected that he will be extradited or deported to face justice in India," he added.
Dalla was reportedly arrested by the Canadian Police late last month.
"We have seen media reports circulating since November 10 on the arrest in Canada of proclaimed offender Arsh Singh Gill alias Arsh Dalla, the de-facto chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force," Jaiswal said.
"Canadian print and visual media have widely reported on the arrest. We understand that the Ontario Court has listed the case for hearing," he added.
Jaiswal was replying to media queries regarding the arrest of Dalla.
"Arsh Dalla is a proclaimed offender in over 50 cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion and terrorist acts, including terror financing. In May 2022, a Red Corner Notice was issued against him," Jaiswal said.
"He was designated in India as an individual terrorist in 2023. In July 2023, the Government of India had requested the Canadian government for his provisional arrest. This was declined," he added.
Jaiswal said India had provided additional information in the case to the Canadian authorities.
"A separate request was also sent to Canada under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) to verify Arsh Dalla's suspected residential address, his financial transactions to India, moveable/immovable properties, details of mobile numbers etc - all of which were provided to Canadian authorities in January 2023," Jaiswal said.
"In December 2023, the Department of Justice of Canada sought additional information on the case. A reply to these queries was sent in March this year," he added.
Our response to media queries regarding the arrest of a designated terrorist in Canada:https://t.co/c6CasRuteb pic.twitter.com/XfH4S5UzUr
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) November 14, 2024
