EC: No bar on using race in party names

The clarification from the ECI had come about on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) moved by Kannan Govindarajan at the High Court seeking a direction to the ECI to get the political parties registered in the name of religion and race to change their names. He had roped in major political parties such as DMK and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and certain parties with religion and caste names as respondents. 

When the plea came up before the first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan, the counsel appearing for ECI produced a letter stating that the name of caste is not allowed to be made as part of the name of the political party while using race as part of the name of the political party would in itself not amount to violation as per the Representation of People’s Act, 1951. 

The bench on recording the submission closed the PIL.