Delhi HC junks Janta Party plea against ECI symbol order

The bench said according to earlier court decisions, political parties could not consider symbols their 'exclusive' property and it was clear the symbol could be lost by a party on account of their 'dismal performance'.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the Janta Party's petition challenging the election commission's order for reserving an election symbol only for recognised registered political parties.

A bench of acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said the issue raised by the petitioner was conclusively decided by the Supreme Court and the high court in other cases.

The bench said according to the decisions, political parties could not consider symbols their "exclusive" property and it was clear the symbol could be lost by a party on account of their "dismal performance".

"In view of the above, the petitioner's challenge to the constitutional validity of the order is rejected. The petition is dismissed," the bench said.

The petitioner's counsel argued Janta Party used to be a recognised political party and therefore wanted to reserve the right to use the symbol --- plough on the shoulder of the farmer -- meant for it in the previous years.

Claiming the election symbol was a property intrinsic to a political party irrespective of whether it was recognised or not, the counsel submitted the Election Symbol (Reservation & Allotment) Order was discriminatory toward unrecognised political parties.

He said the order should not be permitted to take away the symbol of a party on the ground it had become unrecognised as it could not secure 6 per cent valid votes in the last election.

Advocate Sidhant Kumar, appearing for the Election Commission of India, said the same issue was raised by the erstwhile petitioner, Subramanian Swamy, and was conclusively decided by the top court.

The court said it found merit in the EC lawyer's contention that the issue was no longer res integra (question not examined).