No Bar On Political Parties To Contest Municipal Polls, Adoption Of Election Symbols Reasonable: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has ruled that there is no bar under Article 243ZA or 243R of the Constitution of India on political parties, recognized by the State Election Commission (SEC), from contesting municipal elections.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora said that the adoption of Election Symbols of the political parties by the SEC in municipal elections, under the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Election of Councillors) Rules, 2012, is reasonable and not arbitrary.

The court said that the backbone of the Indian democracy is the people itself, who go on to choose their representative by way of direct election.

“At the time when first General Election of India was held, a vast majority of electors consisted of people who were illiterate and could not even read the name of the contesting candidates; therefore, after deliberations and after weighing different options, a system of use of 'election symbols' for the contesting candidates was put in place to help the electors to exercise their franchise in favour of the candidate of their choice,” the court said.

The bench dismissed a PIL moved by one Lokesh Kumar, who contested the MCD polls in 2022 as an independent candidate but lost the elections.

He challenged Rule 15 and Rule 24 of the 2012 MCD Rules which grant power to the SEC to recognize National and State Parties for municipal polls and adopt their election symbols.

Kumar was aggrieved by the presence of reserved symbols of political parties on the list of contesting candidates in the MCD polls. 

He challenged the Rules on the ground that the presence of the reserved symbol of political parties upsets the level playing field for the independent candidate like him.

Dismissing the plea, the bench said the right of the political parties to participate and contest the elections has been recognized by the Election Commission of India, independent of Section 29A of the Representation of People Act, 1951, and even prior to its incorporation in the statute.

The court said that the power of SEC to grant recognition to political parties, like Election Commission of India, can be traced to its powers under Article 243ZA of the Constitution of India and Section 7 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act.

“In light of the law laid down by Supreme Court in Kanhiya Lal (supra) the recognition granted by SEC to the political parties to contest municipal elections is within its jurisdiction and not ultra vires. There is no bar under Article 243ZA or 243R on political parties from contesting municipal elections,” the court said.

It added: “We accordingly, do not find any merit in the present petition and the same is dismissed.”

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. Hargyan Singh Gahlot and Mr. Manoj Kumar Badriwal, Advocates

Counsel for Respondents: Mr. Aman Singh and Ms. Harshita Nathrani, Advocates for Mr. Sameer Vashisht, ASC (Civil), GNCTD; Mr. Neeraj, SPC, Mr. Vedansh Anand, Government Pleader, Mr. Rudra Paliwal, Mr. Mahesh Kumar Rathore and Mr. Sanjay Pal, Advocates for UOI

Title: LOKESH KUMAR v. GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI AND ORS

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 438

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