Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to decide the dispute between two rival factions of the All India Trinamool Congress over the party name and its “flowers and grass” election symbol within three months after the completion of pleadings.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana directed both factions to complete their pleadings before the ECI within four weeks. The three-month period for the poll panel to decide the dispute will begin after the parties complete their pleadings.
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The court said the ECI should decide the matter under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols Order.
The ECI had sought at least six months after the completion of pleadings, citing the scale of evidence and affidavits involved. However, Justice Joymalya Bagchi said: “Three months is good enough.”
The order was passed while the court was hearing a plea filed by former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee against the Election Commission’s decision to freeze the TMC’s name and party symbol. The dispute relates to rival groups led by Banerjee and Arup Roy.
The poll body had earlier allotted separate names and symbols to the two factions after issuing an interim order barring both groups from using the ‘All India Trinamool Congress’ name and its reserved symbol.
The ECI had said the matter required a substantive determination under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, after hearing leaders of both sides.
Assembly bypolls to Nandigram in East Medinipur district and Rejinagar in Murshidabad district of West Bengal are scheduled for October 6, with counting of votes on October 9.
With the Supreme Court’s order, the parties have four weeks to complete their pleadings, followed by three months for the ECI to decide the dispute.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
