The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to list a plea filed by Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee challenging the Election Commission’s interim decision to freeze the party’s original name and election symbol amid an ongoing dispute between rival factions.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Banerjee, sought urgent listing of the plea and a stay on the Election Commission’s action. Sibal told a Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana that proceedings before the Election Commission had commenced in June and that a reply had been filed in July, but the party’s symbol was frozen after the election notification had been issued.

Mr Sibal questioned the timing of the Election Commission’s decision, submitting that despite the proceedings having begun months earlier, the symbol was frozen in the middle of the election process. He sought an urgent hearing and a stay on the action. Mr Sibal remarked, “New milestones are being set by the Election…”, before the CJI indicated that the matter would be listed.

The plea challenges the Election Commission’s interim arrangement under which both rival factions have been barred from using the original All India Trinamool Congress name and the Flowers & Grass symbol for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly by-elections. The Commission has allotted separate names and symbols to the two factions as an interim measure