Today, On 6th November, The Supreme Court directed the Ajit Pawar-led NCP to publish a disclaimer in newspapers regarding the clock symbol dispute within a strict 24 to 36-hour timeframe. Justice Kant emphasized that the court was not giving them days to act but expected the action to be completed in hours. The NCP was instructed to ensure that the necessary details are included in the disclaimer.
New Delhi: Ajit Pawar, the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), assured the Supreme Court on Wednesday, that he would publish a disclaimer within 36 hours in major newspapers, including Marathi dailies.
The disclaimer will clarify that the use of the clock symbol by the NCP is still a sub judice matter. Senior Advocate Balbir Singh made this commitment on behalf of Ajit Pawar in response to an oral directive issued by the Supreme Court.
Justice Kant questioned,
“Why are you taking time to publish the disclaimer in newspapers? We are not giving you days; we are asking in how many hours you can do this.”
Singh responded that it could be completed within two to three days.
Justice Kant then instructed,
“Within 24 hours, maximum 36 hours, publish the disclaimer in newspapers and ensure that whatever you are relying on is included.”
A bench consisting of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and Ujjal Bhuyan was reviewing an application from the Sharad Pawar faction, which aimed to prevent the Ajit Pawar faction from using the ‘clock’ symbol in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly Elections.
In this application, Sharad Pawar requested that Ajit Pawar be instructed to apply for a new symbol for the Vidhan Sabha elections. It is important to note that on March 19 and April 4, prior to the Lok Sabha elections, the Court had mandated that the NCP include a disclaimer in all campaign materials indicating that the use of the ‘clock symbol’ is contingent upon the outcome of ongoing litigation.
Following a split between the Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar factions of the NCP, the Election Commission of India officially recognized the Ajit Pawar faction as the legitimate NCP, citing its legislative majority, and allocated the ‘clock’ symbol (the original symbol of the united NCP) to it.
The Sharad Pawar group subsequently challenged this decision in the Supreme Court. On March 19, the Court allowed the Ajit Pawar faction to use the ‘clock’ symbol, imposing certain conditions.
These included a requirement for the faction to publicly declare that their use of the ‘clock’ symbol for the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly Elections is under legal review and contingent on the outcome of the Sharad Pawar group’s appeal against the ECI’s decision.
In March of this year, the Supreme Court allowed the Ajit Pawar faction to use the ‘clock’ symbol for the 2024 parliamentary and Maharashtra State elections, but with specific conditions. This decision followed the Election Commission’s recognition of Ajit Pawar’s faction as the legitimate NCP after the party split.
Sharad Pawar’s faction challenged this Election Commission decision, and the Supreme Court permitted Ajit to retain the symbol temporarily, pending a final decision on which group would be recognized as the true NCP.
Additionally, the Court instructed the Ajit Pawar faction not to incorporate the name or images of Sharad Pawar in their campaign materials.
On April 3, the Sharad Pawar faction urgently brought forth a complaint, claiming that the Ajit Pawar faction failed to adhere to the March 19 directive regarding the necessity of including a disclaimer in their advertisements about the ongoing legal dispute over the ‘clock symbol’.
Consequently, the Supreme Court requested the Ajit Pawar faction to provide evidence of how many advertisements were published after March 19. The Court emphasized that no one has the right to deliberately misinterpret its orders and warned that serious consequences would follow if its directives were disregarded.
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