Two Leaves' symbol: Madras HC asks EC to decide by October 31
Any delay in this matter will seriously hamper the functioning of the political parties in their political activities, says judges.
MADURAI: The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Friday set October 31 as the deadline for the Election Commission of India (ECI) to decide on the allocation of the 'Two Leaves' symbol which was frozen after the two factions of the AIADMK staked their claim to use it in the by-election to the Dr R K Nagar constituency that had been slated for April 12 last.
A division bench comprising Justices KK Sasidharan and G R Swaminathan told the ECI that it should decide on the allocation of the symbol as expeditiously as possible based on merits and as per law because the principal bench of this court had directed government to hold elections to local bodies by November 17.
“Any delay in this matter will seriously hamper the functioning of the political parties in their political activities,” said the judges while disposing of the petition filed by an AIADMK functionary B Ramkumar Adiyan who sought a direction to the ECI to appoint a retired High court judge to decide on the allotment of the 'Two Leaves' symbol to the faction that enjoys majority among MLAs, MPs and members of the executive council and general council of AIADMK.
The Deputy CM O Panneerselvam and V K Sasikala factions have been contesting before the ECI since March 16 for the allotment of the reserved symbol of the AIADMK for their group. According to the ECI's standing counsel, the reason for the delay was due to the time taken by the factions to file documents.
“It is true that rival groups of the AIADMK were responsible for delay in the matter. However, this cannot be a reason for keeping the proceedings indefinitely. The ECI must fix a deadline for completion of pleadings and production of documents for the purpose of taking up the matter for final disposal,” said Justice Sasidharan.
Referring to the Samajwadi party dispute, the Judge said that realising the urgency of the matter of the fast approaching general elections in Uttar Pradesh, the ECI resolved the dispute in 14 days after the issue was raised before them on January 2.
Hence the court urged the ECI to decide on the 'Two Leaves' symbol before the Tamil Nadu local body elections.