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The Madras High Court on Wednesday upheld an order of the Election Commission of India, refusing allotment of ‘Television’ symbol to the Puthiya Thamilagam political party, headed by Dr K Krishnasamy.
The Election Commission had clearly spelt out that if the petitioning political party did not contest in the requisite number of seats, “then the said common symbol shall not be available to their candidates”, the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu pointed out while dismissing a PIL petition from PT State general secretary V K Aiyar.
The petition sought to quash a letter dated September 17 of the ECI, rejecting the plea to allot TV symbol to PT, as illegal and arbitrary.
The bench said that the common symbol of Television was provisionally allotted to the petitioning political party and the candidates to be put up at the 2016 Assembly elections, subject to the condition in paragraph 10B of the Symbols Order, 1968. There is no dispute that the condition was not met. At least, on a direct query of the court to the petitioner, the response is that the allotment of the television symbol to the petitioning political party has not been cancelled.
Since no case has been made out that the consequence as indicated in the Election Commission’s letter of March 30, 2016 did not attach to the petitioning political party as a result of the petitioning political party not complying with paragraph 10B of the Symbols Order, 1968, the allotment of the television set as a common symbol is, in the circumstances, deemed to have been cancelled.
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