The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted four weeks to the Union government to state its stand on a petition for de-registering political parties having names with “caste, religious, ethnic or linguistic” connotations and flags that resemble the National Flag.
A Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad granted was told that in spite of issuance of notice on the petition in 2019, the Centre was yet to file a reply.
The court also asked the counsel for the Election Commission of India, which has already filed a response to the petition by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, to seek further instructions on the matter.
Mr. Upadhyay has contended in his plea that the use of names with religious connotations or symbols similar to the National Flag or the Emblem might prejudicially affect the poll prospects of a candidate and would amount to a corrupt practice under the Representation of the People Act (RPA) of 1951.
“Review the political parties, registered with caste, religious, ethnic or linguistic connotations and ensure that they are not using a flag, similar to the national flag, and de-register them if they fail to change it within three months,” the plea said, adding that such a step would help ensure free and fair elections.
The plea referred to political parties such as the Hindu Sena, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and the Indian Union Muslim League as examples of names with religious connotations and said this was “against the spirit” of the RPA and the Model Code of Conduct.
The Election Commission had said in 2005 that it took a policy decision not to register any political party having a name with religious connotations and thereafter, no such party has been registered. However, any such party registered before 2005 would not lose its registration, the poll panel said.
