Supreme Court To Examine Election Commission Policy on Grant of Free Symbols on First Come, First Served Basis

New Delhi, March 15: The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Election Commission on a plea by a Tamil Nadu-based unrecognised political party- Naam Tamilar Katchi- challenging the allotment of free symbols to unrecognised political parties on first come, first served (FCFS) basis.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also issued a notice to another unrecognised political party that was granted the poll symbol on which Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) had contested elections in the past.

The high court had on March 1 dismissed the NTK's petition challenging the allotment of free symbols by the poll panel to unrecognised political parties on first come, first served basis. It had rejected the NTK's contention that the Election Symbols Order to this effect was arbitrary and unconstitutional, saying a contrary view would operate against the very essence of having free symbols. Supreme Court Refuses to Stay Appointments of New Election Commissioners Under 2023 Law, to Hear Batch of Pleas on March 21.

The petitioner was aggrieved by the allotment of free symbol 'ganna kisan' (sugarcane farmer) to another political party in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. While issuing the notice on the petition, the CJI said the appeal will be taken up for hearing after the Holi vacation.

The top court said it will examine the scheme of Paragraph 10B (B) of the Election Symbols Order which deals with grant of free symbols to parties and candidates on FCFS basis. The NTK has assailed the EC's policy for being "unconstitutional". Supreme Court Agrees to List Petition Challenging New Election Commissioners' Law Dropping CJI From Selection Committee for March 15.

The petitioner party said all applications filed within the valid window period for allotment of a free symbol should be considered by the Election Commission at the same footing and therefore the 'ganna kisan' symbol should be allotted to it as it has fought six elections since 2019 on that.

"This Court is of the view that if the plea of the Petitioner Party is accepted, the same will operate against the essence of ‘free symbols', as it will take away the rights and benefits granted to the unrecognised political parties to contest the elections with a free and common symbol.

"The Petitioner by the proposed re-phrasing is seeking to retain an advantage for the registered unrecognized political parties to get continued access to a particular free symbol and therefore indirectly converting a free symbol into a reserved symbol," the high court had observed in a recent order.

In the present case, the high court had noted, the information with respect to the first date for receiving applications was published several months in advance, and while the petitioner applied for the 'ganna kisan' symbol on February 9, the successful political party made the application on the first date itself.

"The Petitioner as noted above, was fully aware of the ‘first' acceptance date for application as 17th December, 2023 and its significance in the scheme of Paragraph 10B (B) of the Election Symbols Order and had made use of the same to its advantage in the past," the high court had said while dismissing the plea of the NTK.