The
Delhi High Court has said there is no bar under the Constitution on political
parties, which are granted recognition by the State Election Commission (SEC),
from contesting municipal polls.
The
court has also said the allocation of poll symbols to political parties by the
SEC for municipal elections is reasonable and not arbitrary.
The
court passed an order to this effect while dismissing a petition that had
sought a direction to the SEC here to stop putting the reserved symbols for
political parties on the list of contesting candidates.
The
plea had also sought a direction to the SEC to conduct the election to the
Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) without the reserved symbols, which
allegedly violated the petitioner's fundamental rights as enshrined under
Article 14 (equality before law) of the Constitution.
"In
light of the law laid down by the Supreme Court, the recognition granted by the
SEC to the political parties to contest municipal elections is within its
jurisdiction and not ultra vires. There is no bar under Article 243ZA or
Article 243R on political parties from contesting municipal elections,"
the court said.
A
bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P S Arora said the
backbone of the Indian democracy is the people themselves, who go on to choose
their representative by way of direct elections.
"When
the first general election of India was held, a vast majority of electors
consisted of people who were illiterate and could not even read the names of
the contesting candidates. Therefore, after deliberations and after weighing
different options, a system of use of election symbols for the contesting
candidates was put in place to help the electors exercise their franchise in
favour of the candidate of their choice," the bench said.
The
court said the SEC, in the symbol order of 2022, granted recognition to the
national and state parties already recognised by the Election Commission and
provided for allotment of symbols to the contesting candidates.
"We
are of the considered opinion that the symbol order 2022 issued by the SEC in
exercise of its powers under Article 243ZA of the Constitution, section 7 of
the DMC Act and Rule 15 of the Rules of 2012 is not ultra vires," the
bench said.
According
to the record, petitioner Lokesh Kumar unsuccessfully contested the 2022 MCD
election from Green Park as an independent candidate.
He had challenged certain rules of the 2012 MCD Rules, which grant power
to the SEC to recognise national and state parties for municipal polls and
adopt their election symbols.