You must be impartial: Court pulls up EC over symbol clearance to Team Ritabrata
You must be impartial: Court pulls up EC over symbol clearance to Team Ritabrata
M.U.H
24/09/202619
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday hit out at the Election Commission over its decision to allot the envelope symbol, previously used by the Indian Secular Front (ISF), to the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool Congress for the upcoming West Bengal bypolls. The court said that the poll body should act impartially and questioned why it chose the envelope symbol for the Ritabrata camp when 183 others were available.
“Authority should act impartially and fairly. Once there was an objection just months ago, it was used by another party and you have 183 symbols? Why involve that? And you are producing rules instead of being impartial,” the court observed, according to legal website LiveLaw.
The observations came while the court was hearing a petition filed by the ISF, an opposition party in West Bengal, challenging the Election Commission's decision to allot the envelope symbol to Ritabrata Banerjee's Democratic Trinamool Congress for the October 6 Assembly bypolls.
The Election Commission told the court that the ISF had been allotted the envelope symbol earlier but that it remained a free symbol rather than one reserved for the party. The poll body argued that the ISF was an unrecognised political party and therefore could not claim a reserved symbol, LiveLaw reported.
“Why are your authorities doing like this? Why entering into these disputing things? How many symbols they have? 183? Why are you putting envelopes?” the court said.
The High Court questioned whether the poll body's actions were unnecessarily forcing political parties into litigation. “Your authorities are only pinching the people to create legal proceedings? This is their way of working?” it remarked.
WHY ISF CONTESTED THE ENVELOPE SYMBOL CLAIM?
The ISF, which is contesting the bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar, has instead been allotted the almirah symbol. The party argued that giving its previously used symbol to another political outfit in an election it was also contesting could confuse voters.
Senior Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, appearing for the ISF, questioned how its earlier symbol could be allotted to another party while the ISF itself was in the fray.
“How can they allot my symbol to them in an election I am also contesting? This action of ECI is spoiling the EC machinery and it's losing credibility,” Bhattacharya was quoted by LiveLaw as saying.
He suggested that the Election Commission freeze the envelope symbol for all parties and allot another symbol to the contestants, arguing that voters could otherwise be confused by the change.
EC'S RESPONSE ON ALLOTTING ENVELOPE SYMBOL TO ISF
The High Court, however, repeatedly questioned why the EC chose the envelope symbol for another political group when numerous alternatives were available. “Every time you people are compelling people to come to court. You know it was allotted. 183 symbols are there, why did you choose the envelope?” the court observed, according to LiveLaw.
When the Election Commission submitted that the symbol had been chosen by the petitioners, Bhattacharya disputed the claim, saying the symbol had been allotted by the poll body rather than selected by the party. The court also expressed concern that the controversy had arisen after the election process was already underway, observing that such disputes were forcing political parties to approach the judiciary.
“Once the election started you are creating all the trouble and the parties are coming to court, putting burden on the court,” it remarked. The court further noted the ISF's central grievance -- that a symbol previously associated with one party had been given to another contestant for the same by-election.
“His case is that when one symbol is used by one party, and this is the by-election, why did you choose only that symbol for a particular person? You should have kept it reserved,” the court observed.
WHY THE ENVELOPE SYMBOL ROW ERUPTED
The dispute over the envelope symbol emerged after the poll body froze the 'All India Trinamool Congress' name and its traditional flowers and grass symbol amid competing claims by the Mamata Banerjee and Ritabrata Banerjee factions.
As an interim arrangement for the October 6 bypolls, the Commission allotted the Ritabrata-led faction the name 'Democratic Trinamool Congress' and the envelope symbol. The Mamata Banerjee-led faction was allotted 'Mamata All India Trinamool Congress' and the football player symbol.
The ISF subsequently approached the High Court, arguing that it had previously campaigned and contested elections using the envelope and that allotting the same symbol to another party could create confusion among voters.
