Delhi HC junks Janta Party plea against EC symbol order

Delhi High Court dismisses Janta Party's petition challenging Election Commission's symbol reservation, citing previous Supreme Court decisions on the matter.

The Delhi High Court on Friday (January 17, 2024) dismissed the Janta Party’s petition challenging the Election Commission’s order for reserving an election symbol only for recognised registered political parties.

The court said the issue raised by the petitioner was conclusively decided by the Supreme Court and the High Court in other cases.

It said according to the decisions, political parties could not consider symbols their “exclusive” property and it was clear the symbol could be lost by a party on account of its “dismal performance”.

The petitioner’s counsel argued the Janta Party used to be a recognised political party and therefore wanted to reserve the right to use the symbol — plough on the shoulder of the farmer — meant for it in the previous years.

Claiming the election symbol was a property intrinsic to a political party irrespective of whether it was recognised or not, the counsel submitted the Election Symbol (Reservation & Allotment) Order was discriminatory towards unrecognised political parties.