Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party faction on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that it will publish a new disclaimer in newspapers stating that the group’s use of the “clock” symbol is sub-judice, Bar and Bench reported.

This came as a bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the faction to publish fresh disclaimers in newspapers within 36 hours. “Let needful be done in prominent part of newspapers with wide publicity,” the bench said.

The court was hearing a plea by the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Sharad Pawar seeking directions to stop the rival party group from using the “clock” symbol in the Maharashtra Assembly polls.

On October 24, the court had directed the Ajit Pawar group to add a disclaimer to all its campaign material for the state polls.

The polling for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly will take place in a single phase on November 20. The counting of votes will happen on November 23, alongside that of the Jharkhand elections.

The court also directed the Ajit Pawar faction to file a counter affidavit in response to the interim application filed by the Sharad Pawar faction, which seeks a new symbol for the Ajit Pawar camp in the state polls.

‘No reconciliation’

Supriya Sule, leader of the Sharad Pawar faction, on Wednesday rejected speculation of reconciliation with Ajit Pawar.

The political fight between the two factions was real and that Ajit Pawar had left of his own accord, Sule said at an event organised by The Hindu.

In July 2023, Ajit Pawar, along with several party MLAs had joined Maharashtra’s coalition government comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. After joining the coalition, Ajit Pawar became the deputy chief minister.

The move had led to a split in the Nationalist Congress Party, with one faction supporting Sharad Pawar and the other backing Ajit Pawar.

In February, the Election Commission recognised the faction led by Ajit Pawar as the real Nationalist Congress Party and allocated it the clock symbol. It had assigned the name “Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar” to the Sharad Pawar-led group and the “man blowing a turha” symbol ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

This was challenged by the Sharad Pawar faction in the Supreme Court.

In March, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan ruled that the Ajit Pawar-led faction would be allowed to use the clock symbol for the Lok Sabha polls. However, the faction was required by the court to issue a public notice in newspapers clarifying that the use of the symbol was sub-judice and is subject to adjudication in the matter.

The Ajit Pawar faction was also directed at the time to mention in its election campaign material, including posters and banners, that the use of the clock symbol was sub-judice.