Delhi HC dismisses Lok Insaaf Party plea seeking change in common symbol

The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition moved by Lok Insaaf Party, a Punjab political party, seeking direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to quash the allotment of issued 'Letter Box' as a common symbol to it and direct the commission to allot the common symbol of 'Tractor Chalata Kisan'.

The bench of Justice Prateek Jalan on Thursday dismissed the petition along with the exemplary cost of Rs. 1 lakhs on the petitioner. According to the ECI lawyer Rohini Prasad, the court has observed that the petitioner concealed the material facts and tried to mislead the court by not disclosing the entire and true copy of ECI's notification dated September 23, 2021.

The petition was filed under Article 226 issuance for direction to quash the impugned allotment letter dated October 22, 2021 wherein the commission had issued 'Letter Box' as a common symbol to the petitioner and direct the Commission to allot the common symbol of 'Tractor Chalata Kisan' to the petitioner under section 10B of the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order 1968 for the upcoming legislative assembly elections in Punjab in 2022.

Punjab legislative assembly elections are expected to be held in February or March 2022, to elect the 117 members of the 16th Assembly of the Punjab legislative assembly.

( With inputs from ANI )