THE Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Election Commission not to take any precipitate action for now on the Eknath Shinde faction’s plea that it be considered the real Shiv Sena and granted the party’s poll symbol.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said it would take a call by Monday on referring the matters related to the recent Maharashtra political crisis to a Constitution bench. The top court also told the poll panel that if the Thackeray faction seeks time to file a response to its notices on Shinde faction’s petition, it should consider their request and grant reasonable adjournment.

“Counsels submitted the issues which may arise to decide this case and whether to refer the matter to 5 judges constitution bench. This will be decided taking into consideration the submissions and the issues framed.

“We will take a call and at the same time, the date fixed by the EC is August 8 to submit a reply by the petitioners (Shinde group). If they (Uddhav) want some more time in view of the pendency of the matter then they will file an application seeking time. It is open for EC to grant reasonable adjournment,” the bench, also comprising justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli, said.