NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the removal of election symbols from the ballot papers for the municipal elections in the city. A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi said that it was ‘not impressed’ by the stand taken by petitioner Alka Ghalot.
“We are dismissing it. We are not impressed by your submissions,” stated the bench also comprising Justice Navin Chawla. The petitioner, who contested and lost the MCD polls earlier, contended that the objective behind the municipal elections is ‘local self-governance’ which is ‘taken away’ by the appearance of election symbols of political parties on the ballot paper.
The petitioner, represented by lawyer HS Gahlot, argued that a candidate with an existing symbol of a recognized political party gets an unfair advantage over a candidate with an unknown symbol. It was further contended that a candidate sponsored by a recognized political party would have the advantage of having a reserved symbol which violates the basic principle of having a ‘level playing field’.