The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on July 11 a fresh plea of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena challenging the appointment of Eknath Shinde as chief minister of Maharashtra.

Former chief minister Thackeray said in Mumbai later that the Supreme Court’s verdict would decide not just the future of the Shiv Sena but also the future of Indian democracy.

A vacation bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and J.K. Maheshwari said it would be listed before an appropriate bench on July 11.

Senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai, said they are seeking the listing of the fresh plea along with other pending petitions which are coming up for hearing on July 11.

Desai has challenged the governor’s June 30 decision to invite a coalition of the Shinde faction and the BJP to form the government in Maharashtra.

The Thackeray-led faction has also challenged the validity of the Assembly proceedings held on July 3 and July 4 in which a new Speaker of the House was elected and subsequent proceedings of the floor test in which the Shinde-led coalition had proved its majority.

Earlier, several petitions have been filed by the Thackeray-led faction on various issues related to the Maharashtra political crisis, which are coming up for hearing on July 11.

A rebellion by a section of the Sena MLAs, led by Shinde, had resulted in the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

In Mumbai on Friday, Thackeray asserted that the bow and arrow symbol will remain with the original party.

He also demanded mid-term elections in Maharashtra, saying that people should be allowed to take a stand on the toppling of the government led by him.

Addressing a media conference here, Thackeray said the change of power in the state could have happened with grace and in a dignified manner in 2019 and not with “betrayal” as was done last week.

He was referring to the Sena and BJP parting ways after the 2019 Assembly poll results over the issue of rotational chief minister.

Thackeray hit out at the rebel Sena group for keeping mum when the BJP targeted and “abused” him and his family in the past two-and-a-half years. “You keep in touch with them and betray your own party like this,” he said without naming Shinde.

Thackeray said he has consulted constitutional experts, who told him that there can be a split in the legislature party, but the original party stays and cannot be finished.

“The legislature party and original party are two different entities. There should be no confusion over the symbol. Shivsainiks should rest assured that the bow and arrow symbol will remain with us,” he said.