A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court is set to pronounce its verdict on Thursday, May 11, on a series of petitions pertaining to the Maharashtra political crisis. The case revolves around the split within the Shiv Sena, into two factions led by Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde. The split led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra in 2022.

The Constitution bench, consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha, will deliver the verdict in the nearly year-long dispute.

Timeline of the case:

June 20, 2022: Eknath Shinde's faction of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs cross-voted in the Member of Legislative Council polls. This indicated their dissatisfaction with the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray, the then Chief Minister of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance government in Maharashtra.

June 22, 2022: Eknath Shinde, along with 40 MLAs, moved from Surat to Guwahati. The next day, they declared Shinde as the leader of the Shiv Sena. The Thackeray-led Shiv Sena filed for disqualification against 16 legislators, including Shinde, before the Deputy Speaker.

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June 24, 2022: Rebel MLAs moved a no-confidence motion against the Deputy Speaker, which was rejected by the Speaker.

June 25, 2022: Disqualification notices were served to the rebel MLAs.

June 26, 2022: Eknath Shinde's faction challenged the disqualification petitions before the Supreme Court.

June 27, 2022: The Supreme Court stayed the disqualification proceedings and granted the rebel MLAs 12 days to respond.

June 28, 2022: Maharashtra Governor ordered a floor test in the Vidhan Sabha to be held on June 30. This decision was challenged by the Thackeray faction before the Supreme Court.

June 29, 2022: The Supreme Court refused to stay the floor test, and Uddhav Thackeray eventually resigned as the Chief Minister.

June 30, 2022: Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

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July 3, 2022: Rahul Narwekar of the BJP was elected as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

July 4, 2022: Shinde won the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly with 164 votes in his favour.

July 8, 2022: Uddhav Thackeray affirmed that the bow and arrow symbol of the Shiv Sena would remain as per the law.

August 23, 2022: The Supreme Court referred the legal issues arising from the Shiv Sena split to a Constitution Bench.

October 8, 2022: The Election Commission of India directed Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde to refrain from using the party name or symbol until an official recognition is decided.

October 10, 2022: The Election Commission allotted “Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray” as the party name for the Uddhav faction and “Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena” as the name for the Shinde faction. The Uddhav faction received the Mashaal (flaming torch) as their party symbol, while the Shinde faction was given two swords and shields.

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November 15, 2022: A single-judge bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula dismissed Uddhav Thackeray's plea against the Election Commission of India's freezing of the party name and symbol. The court directed the ECI to expedite the resolution of the issue.

December 12, 2022: Lawyers representing both factions requested additional time to examine the documents submitted by the opposing faction regarding the party name and symbol.

December 13, 2022: Uddhav Thackeray moved the Delhi High Court against Justice Sanjeev Narula's order dismissing his plea.

ALSO READ | Setback for Uddhav Thackeray as Shinde faction gets Shiv Sena name, bow-arrow symbol

January 10, 2023: Eknath Shinde's lawyer, Mahesh Jethmalani, argued that the changes made to Shiv Sena's constitution in 2018 were illegal. The Shinde faction claimed to have the majority support of MLAs and MPs.

January 17, 2023: The Uddhav faction presented arguments to the Election Commission of India, stating that the Shinde camp's claims about flaws in the party's amended constitution were contradictory.

February 17, 2023: The Election Commission ordered that the official name of Shiv Sena would be granted to the Eknath Shinde faction, and they would retain the bow and arrow symbol of the party originally founded by Balasaheb Thackeray.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)