Delhi HC grants time to Centre, political parties to file reply on PIL to restrain opposition parties from using acronym INDIA

New Delhi [India], October 31 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted more time to Centre and Opposition Political Parties to file their responses on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) moved for direction to prohibit the use of the acronym INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) by opposition political alliances.

The bench of Justice Satish Chander Sharma and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela gave the respondents two weeks to file their replies and adjourned the matter for November 22, 2023.

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for most of the opposition political parties in the matter, opposed the petition on maintainability grounds.

Recently, the Election Commission of India (ECI) in its reply to the Delhi High Court, said that it can’t regulate political alliances while responding to a plea against the use of the INDIA acronym for the alliance of opposition parties.

“The answering respondent (ECI) is constituted under Article 324 of the Constitution of India for the superintendence, direction and control of the conduct of all elections to parliament, state legislatures and the offices of president and vice president,” the ECI stated.

The authority of the answering respondent is to be exercised in accordance with the law passed by the parliament, although the answering respondent has the authority to regulate matters concerning elections in the absence of any contrary law in force.

ECI further added, “The answering respondent has been vested with the authority to register associations of bodies or individuals of a political party in terms of Section 29A of the Representation of People Act, 1951 (RP Act).”

Notably, political alliances are not recognised as regulated entities under the RP Act or the Constitution.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had sought a response from the Centre, the ECI and several opposition political parties on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) for direction to opposition political parties to prohibit the use of the acronym INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) for their political alliance, stated ECI.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had sought a response from the central government through the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Election Commission of India (ECI).

However, in the matter, the court also sought responses from opposition parties named on the petition, including the Indian National Congress, TMC, RLD, JDU, Samajwadi Party, DMK, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), RJD, Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), PDP, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), CPI, CPI (M), MDMK, Konganadu Makkal Desia Katchi (KMDK), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Indian Union Muslim League, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, All India Forward Bloc, Kerala Congress (Joseph), Kerala Congress (Mani) and Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK).

Petitioner Girish Upadhya, through Advocate Vaibhav Singh, stated that several political parties are using the national flag as the logo of their alliance, which is a further strategic move to attract and gain sympathy and votes from innocent citizens and as a tool to give a nudge or a spark that may lead to political hatred, which eventually will lead to political violence.

INDIA is an acronym for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, which is an opposition front announced by the leaders of 26 parties to take on the BJP in next year’s elections, stated the petitioner.

The plea alleged, “Political parties are using the acronym INDIA with malicious intent which will only act as a factor in diminishing the goodwill of our great nation, i.e., India (Bharat), not only in our country but also on various international platforms.”

The plea stated that if the term INDIA is used by the Indian and International media as an acronym but not in its full form (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), it will create a sense of confusion among innocent citizens if the alliance INDIA is defeated or loses the general election of 2024, then it will be projected as India as a whole being defeated, which will hurt the sentiment of innocent citizens of the country again, which may lead to political violence in the country.

The acts of these political parties may adversely affect the peaceful, transparent and fair casting of votes during the upcoming general election of 2024, which may expose the citizens to unwarranted violence and also affect the law and order of the country, the plea added.