Supreme Court to Ajit Pawar: The Supreme Court has asked Ajit Pawar to publish a disclaimer in the newspapers within 36 hours that the matter of the clock election symbol is under consideration in the court. The court said that this disclaimer should be printed especially in Marathi newspapers. The bench of 2 judges also said that Ajit Pawar should file an affidavit regarding compliance with the order. The next hearing of the case will be on November 13.
Sharad Pawar has demanded to stop NCP’s Ajit Pawar faction from using the clock election symbol in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. However, even today the court did not give such order. Sharad Pawar says that the Supreme Court had asked the Ajit Pawar group to write below the clock election symbol in its advertisements that the matter is still pending in the court. But it is not being followed.
Senior advocate Balbir Singh, appearing for Ajit Pawar, told the bench headed by Justice Surya Kant that he was following the previous orders of the court. He has also filed its photo. He is also going to give advertisements in newspapers with new disclaimers. On this the bench said that why is it taking so much time to publish the disclaimer in the newspaper?
Senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Sharad Pawar, said that the Ajit Pawar faction has removed many of its videos which were released without disclaimers. But still people associated with Ajit Pawar are showing videos of Sharad Pawar in which the watch is attached. Their leaders are saying that nothing will happen in the court. The clock mark will remain with them. Ajit’s lawyer called these allegations baseless.
Nationalist Congress Party i.e. NCP was divided into two parts last year. On February 7 this year, the Election Commission had considered Ajit Pawar’s party as the real NCP. Due to this, the clock symbol is with Ajit Pawar. Sharad Pawar faction had challenged the Election Commission’s decision in the Supreme Court in February itself. At present this matter is pending for detailed hearing. The Supreme Court will decide only after a detailed hearing whether the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) belongs to uncle Sharad Pawar or nephew Ajit Pawar. But Sharad Pawar wants that if he cannot use the clock election symbol, then Ajit Pawar should also not be able to do so.
Even before the Lok Sabha elections, Sharad faction had tried this. But on March 19, the court did not stop Ajit Pawar’s faction from using the clock. The court had asked the Election Commission to give interim recognition to Sharad faction as NCP Sharadchandra Pawar. Allot ‘Trumpet’ symbol to its candidates in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
The court had said in its order that Ajit Pawar faction should currently use NCP’s original election symbol ‘clock’. But it should issue information in Hindi, English and Marathi that the case of this symbol is still pending in the court. Publish this information in your advertisements also. He should not even use Sharad Pawar’s pictures in the election campaign. Besides, the court had also asked the Sharad Pawar camp that its leaders and workers should call themselves NCP SP (Sharadchandra Pawar) instead of NCP. Use the trumpet symbol instead of the clock everywhere.
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