NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday in its order refused to entertain a PIL seeking action against political parties for allegedly using flags with the tricolour along with party symbols.
"Since when are they (Political parties) doing it? Some parties are doing it before Independence, dismissed," said the top court's three-judge bench, headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria.
The apex court passed the order, after hearing a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) filed by a petitioner-in-person, Sanjay Bhimashankar Thobde, against using the tricolour of the National Flag as part of their political campaign, replacing the Ashoka Chakra with their symbols.
The petitioner, Thobde, who appeared in person, to argue his case submitted before the apex court that certain political parties have been using flag designs closely resembling the national tricolour in their political campaigns, often replacing the Ashoka Chakra with party symbols.
Thobde argued that political parties like the Indian National Congress (INC) have been adopting this practice. "This was a violation of the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act. Some parties are putting their symbol on the national flag...the Congress Party has been doing this. So, thereby the court should pass certain orders in the case," Thobde stated.
Surprisingly, Thobde had filed the plea against the INC, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar Faction) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and made the ECI (Election Commission of India) and the Union as respondents in the case.
The court eventually declined to pass any order on Thobde's petition.