1. Mr. B. Ram Mohan Reddy, petitioner/party-in-person.
Mr. Avinash Desai, learned Senior Counsel representing Mr. Mohammed Omer Farooq, learned Standing Counsel for the Election Commission of India for respondent No.1.
2. Heard on the question of admission.
3. The petitioner was registered as an unrecognized political party under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 with the Election Commission of India on 06.11.2018. The petitioner filed an application seeking allotment of a common symbol on 11.09.2023. The Election Commission of India thereupon sought a clarification from the petitioner on 10.10.2023 by which the petitioner was asked to supply the information/documents mentioned therein. The petitioner responded to the aforesaid clarification by submitting a reply on 18.10.2023. The Election Commission of India by an order dated 20.10.2023 has rejected the request of the petitioner for allotment of a common symbol. Hence, this writ petition.
4. Petitioner/party-in-person submitted that the moment a political party is registered with the Election Commission of India it is automatically entitled to allotment of a common symbol. In this connection, the petitioner has invited the attention of this Court to paragraph 10(B) of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 (hereafter referred to as the ‘1968 Order’). It is submitted that the impugned order be set aside and the Election Commission of India be directed to allot a common symbol to the petitioner.
5. On the other hand, learned Senior Counsel for respondent No.1 submits that a political party in order to get a common symbol is required to comply with the provisions of the 1968 Order as well as the other directions issued by the Election Commission of India under Article 324 of the Constitution of India. It is submitted that the petitioner did not supply the requisite information. Therefore, his prayer for allotment of a common symbol has been rejected.
6. We have considered the submissions made on both sides and have perused the record.
7. The right to contest an election or to get recognition as a political party or for allotment of a common symbol is not a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution of India. The aforesaid right accrues from the provisions of the statute. In exercise of the powers conferred under Article 324 of the Constitution of India read with Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 read with Rules 5 and 10 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, the Election Commission of India has framed the 1968 Order.
8. Paragraph 18 of the aforesaid order is extracted below for the facility of reference:
Power of Commission to issue instructions and directions: The Commission may issue instructions and directions-
(a) for the clarification of any of the provisions of this Order;
(b) for the removal of any difficulty which may arise in relation to the implementation of any such provisions; and
(c) in relation to any matter with respect to the reservation and allotment of symbols and recognition of political parties, for which this Order makes no provision or makes insufficient provision, and provision is in the opinion of the Commission necessary for the smooth and orderly conduct of elections.
Thus, from a perusal of paragraph 18, it is evident that the Election Commission of India has power to issue clarification of any of the provisions of the order or to issue instructions and directions in respect of the matter where no provision or insufficient provision is made under the provisions of the aforesaid order and in the opinion of the Commission, it is necessary to do so for smooth and orderly conduct of elections.
9. In exercise of powers in paragraph 18 of the 1968 Order, the Election Commission of India has issued an order dated 25.05.2022. Paragraph 5 of the aforesaid order dated 25.05.2022 is extracted below for the facility of reference:
“2056 RUPPs, which have failed to furnish Annual Audit Account of the concerned financial year, are indicative of gaps in vital financial information including bank account, PAN, authorized signatories pertaining to those RUPPs, statement of assets and liabilities, contributions received, details of donors, expenditure etc. Therefore, CEOs shall put the list of such RUPPs on their respective websites and afford an opportunity to such RUPPs to comply with extant legal and regulatory regime within 30 days. Non-compliance may make such RUPPs not entitled to have benefits under the Symbols Order, 1968, including allocation of common symbol”.
Thus, the Election Commission of India provides that the registered unrecognized political parties are required to furnish annual audit accounts of every financial year, statement of assets and liabilities, contributions received, details of donors, expenditure etc., failing which, the registered unrecognized political parties are not entitled to take the benefits of the 1968 Order, including allotment of a common symbol.
10. In furtherance of the aforesaid order dated 25.05.2022, the Election Commission of India issued a general notice to all political parties by which they were required to comply with the mandate contained in the aforesaid order dated 25.05.2022.
The petitioner did not respond to the aforesaid notice. The petitioner thereafter submitted an application on 11.09.2023 seeking allotment of a common symbol.
11. In response to the application submitted by the petitioner, by a communication dated 10.10.2023, the petitioner was asked to submit the following information:
…..Therefore you are requested to furnish the authenticated copies (party seal and signature of party President/General Secretary on each & every page) of the following documents:
(a) Election of new office bearers:
(i) List of the present office bearers along with their designation i.e., President, Vice-President, National General Secretary, Treasurer, etc., of the party;
(ii) Extracts of the relevant Articles/clauses of the Party Constitution about the procedure laid down for their election of office bearers;
(iii) The term of office of the office bearers;
(iv) Notice to the members regarding organizational elections;
(v) The date on which last election of the office bearers was held;
(vi) List of participating members of the meeting;
(vii) The authenticated true copy of the proceedings/ minutes/resolution of the relevant meetings of the general body in which the election was held and authenticated true copy of the Register of Attendance in which the participating members (as per the quorum in the party constitution) signed their presence;
(viii) Resignation letters/Death certificates of old office bearers, if they are not re-elected.
12. The petitioner responded to the aforesaid communication by submitting a reply on 18.10.2023 which reads as under:
The point wise queries/clarifications as sought by you in your above referred letter are furnished below.
(i) List of the present Office-Bearers of the Party is enclosed.
(ii) Extracts of the relevant Articles/Clauses of the Party Constitution about the procedure laid for their Election of office bearers is enclosed.
EXTRACT OF PARTY ORGANISATIONAL ELECTIONS: Party elections to the State Central Committee (SCC) will be held once in every five (5) year commencing from UGADI, the Telangana new year day of the last election with proper amendment to be passed by the State Council as per the exigencies that may arise from time to time. The elections to the District, Mandal and Village committees will be held as mentioned in Rule 5 A, B, C and D. All the Active Members from all over the state are eligible to vote for the office bearers on the election day of the State Central Committee which will be announced one month in advance and the date, time and venue of the voting will be communicated by messages/letters to all the Active Members in the state.
(iii) The term of office bearers is five (5) years.
(iv) Copies Notice to the members regarding organizational elections is lengthy and mixed up in other files, presently not traceable. The same will be sent after this election as there is lot of work of elections to be participated in a short span of time. However model letter sent is enclosed. Kindly allow us to submit the detailed documents at a later date.
(v) The date on which the last election of the office bearers was 22-03-2023.
(vi) List of the participating members of the meeting:
The list is very lengthy and the register is misplaced. Therefore, the same will be sent after the present elections. Kindly allow.
(vii) The authenticated true copy of the proceedings/minutes/resolution of the relevant meeting of the general body in which the election was held and authenticated true copy of the Registrar of Attendance in which the participating members (as per the quorum in the party constitution) signed their presence: Enclosed as given by the Election Officer.
(viii) The detailed copy of the documents will be sent in due course after the present elections.
13. Thus, it is evident that the petitioner did not furnish the information of the organizational elections and agreed to submit the same at a later date. From a perusal of the aforesaid reply, it is evident that the petitioner neither furnished copies of notice to the members regarding organizational elections nor the list of participating members of the meeting. It was held that the aforesaid documents have been misplaced and will be submitted after the assembly elections to the State Legislative Assembly held on 30.11.2023. The petitioner also did not furnish the audited accounts and requested the Election Commission of India to relax the condition and allot a common symbol to it.
14. The aforesaid request of the petitioner was rejected by the Election Commission of India by an order dated 20.10.2023. Thus, it is evident that action by the Election Commission of India has been taken in accordance with the provisions of the 1968 Order and in accordance with the guidelines issued in paragraph 18 of the aforesaid order dated 25.05.2022. The action does not suffer from any infirmity. The petitioner failed to comply with the requirement for allotment of a common symbol. Therefore, no fault can be found with the Election Commission of India.
15. However, it is open for the petitioner to submit a fresh application along with requisite documents to the Election Commission of India. Needless to state that in case such documents are submitted to the Election Commission of India, it will be open for the Election Commission of India to deal with the prayer of the petitioner for allotment of a common symbol in accordance with law.
16. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs.
As a sequel, miscellaneous petitions, pending if any, stand closed.
