A constitution bench will hear the plea on Thursday.
The Supreme Court today referred the case relating to the claim over Shiv Sena to a constitution bench. It framed eight questions related to defection, merger, and disqualification for the larger bench to decide in the battle between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on claim over the party.
The top court ordered the listing of petitions before the constitution bench on Thursday and directed the Election Commission not to pass any orders on the Shinde faction's plea that it be considered the real Shiv Sena and granted the party's poll symbol.
"List the matter before the constitution bench the day after tomorrow and the bench will decide about the symbol related to the Election Commission proceeding at the beginning," the bench comprising Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli, said.
A five-member constitution bench will hear the plea on Thursday.
The court was hearing the pleas filed by Shiv Sena factions led by Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde on the disqualification of MLAs and other technical issues.
The court said the batch of petitions raise important constitutional issues relating to the 10th schedule of the Constitution pertaining to disqualification, power of the Speaker and Governor and judicial review.
The 10th Schedule of the Constitution provides for the prevention of defection of the elected and nominated members from their political party and contains stringent provisions against defections.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena had earlier submitted that party MLAs loyal to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde can save themselves from disqualification under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution only by merging with another political party.
Mr Shinde had late last month urged the Supreme Court to dismiss all pleas by Uddhav Thackeray's team, and let the Election Commission decide whose faction is the real Shiv Sena.
Claiming that he commands the numbers - and, therefore, the Sena - Mr Shinde also submitted that courts shouldn't interfere with internal party decisions "taken democratically by the majority".
A rebellion by Mr Shinde and 39 of 55 MLAs of the Shiv Sena led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in June.
After the collapse of the MVA government, Mr Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis is the Deputy Chief Minister in the new government.