SC asks Election Commission to resolve TMC factions’ symbol row within 3 months
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Election Commission to decide the symbol dispute between rival Trinamool Congress factions within three months.
The court said that the three-month period will begin from four weeks hence, within which both sides were directed to file all necessary responses and evidence.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana was hearing the writ petition filed by former West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress founder Mamata Banerjee, challenging the Election Commission's September 17 decision to freeze the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) name and its 'Flowers & Grass' election symbol amid a dispute between rival factions of the party.
The EC's counsel, senior advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, submitted that symbol disputes are bound to take time, because the affidavits from the party workers will come in "lakhs". Justice Bagchi suggested that the ECI can use AI tools and decide the matter within 3 months, noting that 3 months have already passed since the matter reached the poll body, LiveLaw reported.
Naidu submitted that if the Court sets a timeline, it should be from the date the parties file their affidavits. He also handed over to the Court the timeline followed by the ECI in past symbol disputes.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Kalyan Bandhopadhyay submitted that the Mamata Banerjee-led faction had filed their responses in July itself, and the other side was yet to file their counter-responses.
Mamata Banerjee's SC plea
Mamata Banerjee moved the Supreme Court on September 18, hours after the Election Commission allotted separate names and symbols to the two rival factions following its September 17 interim order freezing the original party identity for the upcoming by-elections.
The poll panel has named Banerjee’s faction “Mamata All India Trinamool Congress” and allotted it the “Football Player” symbol. The rival faction has been recognised as “Democratic Trinamool Congress” and allotted the “Envelope” symbol. The arrangements apply to the upcoming bypolls, including those in Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal.
The Election Commission’s September 17 order came after rival groups staked claim to the party name, symbol and organisational control. The commission said there were two rival groups, one led by Banerjee and the other by the opposing faction, and that the dispute required a substantive determination under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
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