The Supreme Court on March 15 asked the Election Commission of India to respond to a plea filed by the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) challenging the allotment of free symbols to unrecognised political parties on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also issued a notice to another unrecognised political party which was allotted the poll symbol earlier held by the NTK.
The top court said that it would examine the scheme of Paragraph 10B (B) of the Election Symbols Order, which deals with the grant of free symbols on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
The Madras High Court had on March 1 dismissed a petition by the NTK challenging the method of allotting symbols to such parties. The petitioner was aggrieved by the allotment of the free symbol of a ganna kisan (sugarcane farmer) to another political party in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
The case will be listed after the Holi holidays.
