Kolkata, Sep 24 The Calcutta High Court on Thursday came down heavily on the Election Commission over reassignment of the ‘envelope’ symbol to the newly formed Democratic Trinamool Congress from the ISF, observing that the poll panel “should act fairly”.
Noting that there are 183 free election symbols at the disposal of the EC, the court asked what was the reason for the Commission to give away the ‘envelope’ symbol to a party contesting the by-election in West Bengal’s Nandigram, where the ISF has also fielded its candidate.
The court verbally observed that the symbol should have been kept reserved.
“The authority should act fairly,” Justice Krishna Rao observed.
The high court adjourned hearing in the matter until Friday on a prayer by the EC’s counsel for taking instruction on why a notification was not issued for allotment of symbols for the bypolls.
Justice Rao asked why the EC was creating a dispute by allotting the ‘envelope’ symbol to the new party.
“Your authority is pinching the persons and creating legal proceedings; is this the way of the authority to work?” Justice Rao told the EC’s lawyer during the hearing of the ISF petition, challenging the reassignment of the ‘envelope’ symbol.
“Every time for one reason or another you are compelling the persons to come to court,” he observed.
The EC’s counsel stated that the choice is upon the petitioners who contest the elections to choose a symbol, a claim which the petitioner’s lawyer contested, saying it is the commission that finally allots the symbol.
Bypoll to the Nandigram assembly seat, vacated by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, is scheduled for October 6.
EC’s counsel Anamika Pandey said the ISF is a registered but not a recognised political party, thus being entitled to a free symbol.
She said the ISF contested the last assembly election winning only one seat and as a result, the ‘envelope’ symbol became free again, and can be allotted to any party across India.
The high court said the petitioner’s case is that they fought the assembly election just four months back with the ‘envelope’ symbol and since this is a bypoll, why the EC chose only that symbol to be alloted to another contesting party.
The ISF’s lawyer stated that they had filed objection to the reallotment on the very same day it was done.
He also said the EC had not issued any notification for allotting election symbols for the bypoll.
Representing the petitioner, senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said the ISF is also a candidate in the same bypoll as the new political party which has been allotted the ‘envelope’ election symbol, thus creating a confusion.
Bhattacharya argued that such actions by the EC are spoiling the constitutional body’s credibility.
He prayed that the ‘envelope’ symbol be freezed for all parties, and a new symbol be issued to the Democratic Trinamool Congress to avoid confusion.
Justice Rao also asked the lawyer representing the Democratic Trinamool Congress as to what interest it has in the ‘envelope’ symbol, to which the counsel said they had given three symbol choices, the first being the ‘envelope’.
(PTI News)
