Today, On 9th January, The Delhi High Court dismissed a petition challenging the constitutional validity of The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. This order governs the specification, reservation, and allocation of electoral symbols to parties and candidates.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court dismissed a petition on Friday that sought to challenge the constitutional validity of The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
This order governs the specification, reservation, and allocation of electoral symbols to political parties and candidates during elections.
A Division Bench consisting of Justices Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Anish Dayal stated that similar petitions had been previously rejected by the Supreme Court.
The Court noted,
“We have dismissed the petition,”
The petition was filed by the Hind Samrajya Party, challenging the constitutionality of the 1968 order.
The party sought a declaration that the order is null and void and requested that the court prohibit the Election Commission of India (ECI) from enforcing its provisions.
The petitioner contended that the Central Government did not frame the 1968 Order in accordance with Section 169 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which allows only the Union government, after consulting the ECI, to establish rules for executing the Act’s objectives.
According to the petition, the Election Commission lacks independent authority to formulate rules for enforcing the Act, thereby rendering the Symbol Order jurisdictionally invalid.
Additionally, the petition challenged paragraphs 6A, 6B, and 6C of the Symbol Order, which outline criteria for designating national and state party status, arguing that these provisions are arbitrary, unreasonable, and violate Article 14 of the Constitution.
The plea asserted that all registered political parties form a single class and claimed that the preferential rights and privileges granted to recognized parties, such as reserved symbols and procedural advantages, unjustly discriminates against newly registered parties.
Advocate Parth Yadav represented the petitioner, while Standing Counsel Suruchi Suri and advocate Siddharth Kumar stood for the Election Commission of India.
The Central Government was represented by advocates Piyush Beriwal, Jyotshna Vyas, Ruchita Srivastava, and Amisha P. Dash.
The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 (“Symbols Order”) is issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) under Article 324 of the Constitution, which grants the ECI plenary powers of “superintendence, direction and control” over elections.