New Delhi, Aug. 19 -- The Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the Election Commission's (EC) determination as to which group constitutes the political party should come after a decision on the disqualification proceedings against the MLAs who have deserted their camp. The submissions to this effect were made by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Thackeray faction, before a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. The bench was hearing final arguments on the sixth day on the pleas of the Thackeray faction against the EC's decision to recognise the Eknath Shinde-led camp as the real Shiv Sena and allot the party's name and "bow-and-arrow" symbol to it. Sibal said the EC and the Maharashtra Assembly speaker had fundamentally misinterpreted the law by conflating a "legislative majority" with the "political party" itself. He raised a crucial procedural point regarding the timing of the EC's intervention and argued that the poll panel should only determine which faction constitutes the "real" party after the disqualification proceedings against the rebel MLAs are concluded. "If those MLAs are ultimately disqualified, their strength in the legislature must be disregarded," Sibal said. "The process of determining who constitutes the political party must be consequential upon the decision in the disqualification petitions. Otherwise, this problem will arise every time a faction will approach the EC to bypass disqualification," the senior lawyer said. He said the number of rebel MLAs facing disqualification notices grew from 16 to 22 and eventually, to 39....