The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to urgently list Mamata Banerjee’s petition challenging the Election Commission’s interim decision to freeze the All India Trinamool Congress name and its ‘Flowers & Grass’ election symbol.

The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Banerjee, sought an early hearing, questioning the timing of the poll panel’s decision.

Sibal told the court that proceedings before the Election Commission had begun in June and that the Banerjee faction had submitted its response in July.

However, the EC proceeded to freeze the party’s name and symbol after the notification for the Nandigram and Rejinagar bypolls had already been issued.

The Election Commission had taken the interim step amid a dispute between rival factions claiming the Trinamool Congress identity.

The order prevents both sides from using the original party name and reserved symbol for the upcoming bypolls, pending a substantive determination of the dispute.

Following the freeze, the poll panel allotted separate provisional identities to the two factions for the bypoll process. Banerjee’s faction was given the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ along with the ‘Football Player’ symbol, while the rival faction was allotted ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘Envelope’ symbol.

The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the merits of Banerjee’s challenge.

The upcoming hearing will consider the legal challenge to the Election Commission’s interim arrangement, while the underlying dispute over the original party name and symbol remains pending before the poll panel.