THE Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on August 1 a fresh plea by the Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction against Election Commission proceedings on a petition by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led group for recognition as the real Shiv Sena.

A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli was urged by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Thackeray faction, that the ongoing proceedings before the poll panel needed to be stayed as it would impact the hearing here in the case.

“These are completely different issues. One concerns the Speaker and the Lordships are dealing with all the issues of disqualification, floor test etc. The Election Commission is dealing with the intra-party thing as to who represents the party, the symbol and it has nothing to do with the disqualification,” senior advocate N K Kaul, appearing for the Shinde faction, told the bench.

What is the stage of the proceedings before the poll panel, the bench asked. “The EC has only issued notices for August 8,” Kaul said.

The SC then said it would tag the fresh plea with pending ones and hear it together with them on August 1.

Recently, the poll panel asked the rival factions of the Shiv Sena led by Thackeray and Shinde to submit documents by August 8 in support of their claims on the election symbol -- bow and arrow -- of the political outfit. The poll panel sources had said the two sides have been asked to submit documents, including letters of support from the legislative and organisational wings.