The Supreme Court Bench led by CJI Chandrachud clarified Today (March 18th) that it will examine the scheme outlined in Paragraph 10B (B) of the Election Symbols Order, which pertains to the allocation of free symbols to parties and candidates based on a first-come-first-served approach.
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court took a significant step by issuing notices to the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding a plea that questions the process of allocating free symbols to unrecognized political parties, which currently operates on a first-come, first-served basis.
The bench, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, has taken this action following a petition submitted by the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), an unrecognized political party based in Tamil Nadu. In addition to the ECI, the bench has called for a response from another unrecognized political entity that received the election symbol initially reserved for the NTK.
This inquiry by the Supreme Court will focus on the policies outlined in Paragraph 10B (B) of the Election Symbols Order, specifically concerning the assignment of free symbols to political entities and candidates according to their order of application.
The backdrop of this Supreme Court notice is the recent decision by the Delhi High Court, which opted to reject NTK’s plea against the Election Commission of India’s approach of distributing free symbols to unrecognized parties based on who applies first.
The plea, represented by Senior Advocate Haripriya Padmanabhan, argues against the award of the ‘ganna kisan’ (sugarcane farmer) symbol, which was previously allocated to NTK, to a different political party within Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in anticipation of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The unfolding legal challenge underscores a significant debate over the fairness and transparency of the current system for allocating symbols to political parties, especially those not officially recognized by the ECI.
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