NCP vs NCP: SC seeks details of ads from Ajit Pawar-led party issued in clock symbol case

Supreme Court/ File pic

The Supreme Court ordered the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday to furnish specifics about newspaper advertising made in accordance with its decision. The order required the faction to accompany any publicity with a disclaimer saying that the allocation of the 'clock' emblem to them is pending litigation, reported PTI.

According to the report, during the hearing, Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan instructed senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, representing the faction led by the Maharashtra deputy chief minister, to provide details of advertisements published after the court's March 19 ruling.

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Per the agency report, the direction came after the Sharad Pawar faction moved to the Supreme Court again citing that the Ajit Pawar faction was not following the top court's orders.

Addressing Rohatgi, the bench stressed the necessity of adhering to the court's orders, noting that deliberate misreading of the decision would be unacceptable, the report added.

Per PTI report, the bench said, "Mr Rohatgi you have your instructions on how many advertisements were issued after this order. We might be required to take a view if he (Ajit Pawar) is behaving like this. Nobody has a right to deliberately misconstrue our order."

Senior attorney Abhishek Singhvi, representing Sharad Pawar, informed the court of its previous order dated March 19. In that judgement, the court directed the Ajit Pawar-led group to publish a public notice in English, Hindi, and Marathi media noting that the allocation of the 'clock' symbol is pending and that they are permitted to use it subject to the conclusion of the proceedings, stated the news agency report.

Additionally, it stated that the court ordered that this declaration be included in all booklets, advertisements, and audio or video clips distributed by the NCP. Compliance with this order is critical to maintaining transparency and obedience to the legal processes in the ongoing 'clock' symbol case. It had also asked the Ajit Pawar faction to not use the name and photos of Sharad Pawar in election posters in Maharashtra and other regions.

"Such a declaration shall be incorporated in every pamphlet, advertisement, audio or video clip to be issued by the respondent (NCP) political party," the top court had said.