The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to urgently list a plea filed by former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee challenging the Election Commission’s decision to freeze the Trinamool Congress’s name and reserved election symbol amid a dispute between two rival factions of the party.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the matter before a Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, seeking an early hearing.
“They issue a notification and in the middle of notification, they freeze the symbol. What is going on? We want urgent listing,” Sibal submitted.
The Election Commission on Friday allotted separate names and symbols to the two factions after its interim order a day earlier barred both groups from using the name “All India Trinamool Congress” and the party’s reserved symbol pending a final determination of the dispute.
In its interim order issued on Thursday night, the poll panel said the dispute required substantive determination under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, after hearing representatives of the rival factions led by Banerjee and Arup Roy.
(With inputs from PTI)
