Shiv Sena Symbol Row: SC to Hear Uddhav Thackeray Faction’s Plea on Nov 12 Ahead of Maharashtra Local Polls

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the Uddhav camp urged the Court to take up the matter before the upcoming Maharashtra local body elections, which are in January 2026, arguing that the delay in adjudicating the dispute would cause irreparable harm.

The matter is likely to come up before the Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.

Previously in July, the Court had decided to hear the dispute involving the election symbol and official name of Shiv Sena between Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray in August.

The Bench had said that it would like to hear the case finally and put an end to the dispute.

Uddhav Thackeray faction had moved Supreme Court against the Election Commission's order allowing Eknath Shinde led faction to use the name 'Shiv Sena' and the symbol of 'bow and arrow'.

In 2023, supreme court had issued notice in the matter and allowed the liberty granted by the Election Commission to the Uddhav Thackeray faction to use the flaming torch symbol till the completion of the upcoming bye-elections.

The impugned order was passed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel in a plea filed by Eknath Shinde.

The order of the Election Commission of India came after Eknath Shinde had approached the Election Commission with a plea to decide who the real Shiv Sena is. Earlier the Supreme Court had rejected the plea of Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena to seek a stay on the proceedings of the Election Commission.

Eknath Shinde, leader of the Shiv Sena had rebelled against the former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray with 40 other MLA's which led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

Case Title: Uddhav Thackeray vs. Eknath Sambhaji Shinde & Anr.

Hearing Date: October 8, 2025

Bench: Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and NK Singh