Supreme Court questions the Election Commission's use of the legislative majority test in the Shiv Sena symbol case

8 October 2026

A Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana heard the Shiv Sena symbol dispute on October 7, 2026.
The case is Sunil Prabhu versus Eknath Shinde, SLP(C) Nos. 1644-1662 of 2024, arising from a decision of the Election Commission of India under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols Order.
The Commission had recognised the Eknath Shinde faction as the Shiv Sena and allowed it the bow and arrow symbol; Uddhav Thackeray challenged that decision.
Justice Bagchi noted that of four available courses, the Commission considered three, namely the party constitution, an organisational majority test and a legislative majority test.
It did not consider the fourth course of declining to recognise either faction, which would have meant withholding the symbol from both.
Justice Bagchi described that fourth course as an exceptional, rarest of rare one, but said the Commission had not explained why it was ruled out.
He noted that the Constitution Bench in Subhash Desai versus Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra had described the legislative test as weak and debatable.
He stressed that the Court was examining the manner in which the Commission exercised its discretion, not substituting its own view on the merits.