New Delhi: Recently, the Delhi High Court ruled that political parties cannot consider the symbol as their exclusive property and that the right to use the symbol may be withdrawn if the party performs badly.
This was stated by a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad in dismissing an appeal brought by the Samata Party to overturn a decision by a single judge of the Delhi High Court that had previously rejected the party’s request to deny the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena the use of the “flaming torch” as its election symbol.
“A symbol is not a tangible thing nor does it generate any wealth. It is only the insignia which is associated with the particular political party so as to help the millions of illiterate voters to properly exercise their right to franchise in favour of the candidate of their choice belonging to a particular party. The parties concerned cannot consider the symbol as its exclusive property. The Election Symbols (Reservation And Allotment) Order, 1968 makes it very clear that the right to use the symbol can be lost with the dismal performance of the party,” the bench said referring to a previous Supreme Court order in Subramanian Swamy vs. Election Commission of India case.
EC issued party “flaming torch” as a symbol in 1994
Former union minister George Fernandes and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar first founded the Samata Party, a branch of the Janata Dal, in 1994.
The Election Commission of India issued the party a “flaming torch” as a symbol in 1994. In the general elections of 1996, it gained eight seats (six of which were in Bihar, along with one seat each in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha), and in the general elections of 1998, it won twelve seats (ten from Bihar and two from Uttar Pradesh). But in 2004, it lost its status as a state party. In the 2009 and 2014 general elections, it failed to win any seats.
The Samata Party opposed when the Election Commission of India gave the “flaming torch” symbol to the “Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)” in October of this year.
Also Read: PM Modi to inaugurate ‘Kashi Tamil Sangamam’ in Varanasi on Saturday
Later, it appealed the verdict of the Election Commission to the Delhi High Court. The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 stated that any rights the Samata Party may have had to the in question symbol lapsed six years after its enactment, so the single judge bench of the high court rejected the Samata Party’s appeal. The Samata Party had lost its status as a recognised party in 2004. It appealed the order to the high court’s division bench because it was upset by the ruling.
The Samata Party argued before the division bench that the party’s candidates could not have been given the “flaming torch” insignia because they ran for office in 2014.
The bench, however, rejected this argument, citing that the Supreme Court already rejected a similar claim in the case of Subramanian Swamy v. Election Commission of India.
“Even though the members of the appellant/Samata Party were permitted to use the symbol of ‘flaming torch’, the appellant/Samata Party having been de-recognized in the year 2004, the symbol has become a free symbol and it was within the domain of Election Commission of India to allot the same to any other Party. No fault can be found with the communication-cum-order dated 10th October, 2022 issued by the Election Commission of India allotting the symbol of flaming torch to “Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)” and the Order dated 19.10.2022, passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P.(C) 14830/2022 affirming the said Order,” said the division bench while dismissing Samata Party’s appeal against single judge order.
For all the news update subscribe our YouTube channel ‘DNP India’. You can also follow us on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER.
