On October 20, the Delhi High Court cleared the response of the Election Commission (ECI) on an appeal filed by the new political party, the Plurals Party, asking to use the 'Chess Board' symbol as an election emblem during the Bihar Assembly polls. The single-judge bench of Justice Jayant Nath ordered the ECI to file its reply within a time of four weeks on the allotment of a common symbol to the Party.
It was stated by the Party that while getting registered in the ECI, the last date of the initial stage for filing the nominations of elections in Bihar was over. The party stated that despite following the rules and regulations for the registration of parties, the ECI registered them only on October 13.
It was also said that the main objective of the registration on time was to contest in the State Elections of Bihar, but the last date for filing the nomination for the first stage of the election already expired on October 8. The appeal filed stated that the relaxations were in effect till October 20th which was the last date for filing of nomination for phase three.
It was said that a large number of candidates were given the symbol of the ‘chessboard’. So it was requested that the ‘chessboard’ is a free symbol and it may be allotted to the party. The respondent’s advocate raised a primary objection saying that the present relief sought is barred under Article 329 (b) of the Constitution of India. He also mentioned the judgment of the case Sanjoy Sachdev vs. Chief Election Commission that of Mohinder Singh Gill and Anr. Vs. Chief Election Commissioner New Delhi & Ors.
It was stated by the ECI that the term 'election' includes all steps and the entire proceedings starting from the date of notification of election till the date of declaration of the result. The plaintiff’s advocate stated that there was no provisional injunction application with the petition and that there was no intention to ban the election process. The Court ordered that a counter-affidavit be filed within four weeks from the date of the order.
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