New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, which governs the specification, reservation and allotment of electoral symbols to political parties and candidates.
A Division Bench of Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Anish Dayal declined to entertain the plea filed by the Hind Samrajya Party, holding that no grounds were made out to interfere with the existing statutory framework regulating elections.
A detailed copy of the judgment is awaited.
The petitioner had questioned the authority of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to frame and enforce the Symbols Order, seeking a declaration that the 1968 Order was null and void.
It had also urged the court to restrain the ECI from implementing its provisions.
The party argued that the Symbols Order was not framed by the Central Government under Section 169 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which, it claimed, vested rule-making powers exclusively with the Union government after consultation with the ECI.
On this basis, the petitioner contended that the Commission lacked the jurisdiction to issue the Order independently.
The plea also challenged paragraphs 6A, 6B and 6C of the Symbols Order, which lay down the criteria for recognition of national and state political parties. These provisions were alleged to be arbitrary and in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, with the petitioner arguing that all registered political parties form a single class and that granting reserved symbols and other benefits to recognised parties amounts to discrimination against newly registered parties.
Rejecting the submissions, the High Court found no merit in the challenge and dismissed the petition, thereby upholding the validity of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.