Can’t allot ‘pressure cooker’ symbol to unregistered AMMK, says EC

Dhinakaran told the apex court that the poll body’s stand would force the AMMK candidates to contest on different symbols in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Dhinakaran, as to when was the last date of filing nominations for Lok Sabha polls. Sibal replied that the last date of filing of nomination is on Tuesday and if the party is not allotted the symbol, its candidates will have to contest on different symbols.

He said that candidates of rival parties will win by default if the common symbol of ‘pressure cooker’ is not given to them. The bench then asked the EC official to apprise it as to why a common symbol was not given to AMMK.

The official said that as per the rules a common symbol cannot be given to the AMMK party which was not a registered political party. He said the election process has already started and it would be difficult to allot a common symbol.

Irked that there was no written reply from the Election Commission, the bench questioned, “Where is your reply? You cannot just read from a piece of paper and say it cannot be given. Where are the reasons?”

The official replied that court had not asked the poll panel to file its reply. The bench, which was visibly unsatisfied with the reply of poll panel official, perused the March 15 order and said that court has issued a notice to the EC.

“We have issued notice. Why did you not file a detailed reply to their plea? Shall we invite the Election Commission to file a reply? You file the affidavit in the course of the day. We will hear the case tomorrow,” the bench said.

On March 15, the apex court had agreed to hear a plea of Dhinakaran and Sasikala challenging a Delhi High Court order granting the ‘two leaves’ symbol to a faction led by Tamil Nadu Chief MinisterEdappadi K Palaniswami.

The court had issued notice to the Election Commission on the limited plea of Dhinakaran that they be allowed to use ‘pressure cooker’ as a common symbol.

On February 28, the high court had dismissed the pleas of Dhinakaran and Sasikala challenging the EC order granting the ‘AIADMK’ name and the ‘two leaves’ symbol to the faction led by the Tamil Nadu CM, saying the figures showed the Palaniswami-led group “enjoyed a clear majority.”