The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Upendra Yadav in the dispute over the split of the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP)-Nepal, declaring the Election Commission’s decision to register a separate party led by Ashok Rai unlawful.

A full bench of justices Kumar Regmi, Mahesh Sharma Paudel and Shreekanta Paudel on Thursday ordered that Yadav-led JSP-Nepal be recognised as the legitimate party.

The dispute dates back to May 2024, when a faction led by Rai, then chair of the party’s federal council, applied to the Election Commission to register a new political party under the name Janata Samajbadi Party. The commission registered the party on May 6, citing provisions of the Political Party Act, 2017 and the Political Party Regulation, 2018.

The split came after long-standing dissatisfaction within JSP-N over Yadav’s leadership. A majority of the party’s lawmakers and more than two dozen central committee members had backed the move to form a separate party.

Yadav subsequently challenged the commission’s decision at the Supreme Court, arguing that registering a new party based on an application filed by leaders who had left JSP-N was unlawful.

The court has now upheld Yadav’s claim and ruled that the Election Commission acted illegally in registering the application submitted by the Rai faction for party division.

The full text of the verdict has not yet been released. The Election Commission will have to make a fresh decision regarding the status of Rai and his supporters in line with the court’s ruling.