Delhi High Court Upholds Dismissal Of Plea Against ECI Registration Granted To AIMIM As Political Party

The Delhi High Court has upheld the dismissal of a petition seeking quashing of the registration granted by Election Commission of India (ECI) to All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Musalimeen (AIMIM) as a political party.A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela rejected the appeal moved by Tirupati Narashima Murari challenging the dismissal of the plea by a single judge in November last year. Before the single judge, Murari had challenged a circular issued by ECI in 2014 granting recognition to AIMIM as a State level party in the State of Telangana. Upholding the single judge order, the division bench rejected Murari's contention that AIMIM does not fulfil the conditions laid down under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. It was submitted by Murari that the object of the party was to further the interest of only one religious community.It was also contended that AIMIM does not spouse secular values and, therefore, grant of registration was violative of the Section 29A of the RP Act.The Bench said that AIMIM had amended its constitution to conform to the provisions of Section 29A(5) of the RP Act and thus, Murari's argument did not survive. “We find no infirmity with the conclusion of the learned Single Judge that the requirements of Section 29A(5) of the Act are fully satisfied. Therefore, there is no ground to de-register AIMIM as a political party on the ground that its constitution does not conform to Section 29A(5) of the RP Act,” the Court said. The Bench concurred with the single judge's observation that the ECI does not have the powers to deregister AIMIM on the grounds as set out by the Murari in his plea. “In view of the above, the appeal is unmerited. It is, accordingly, dismissed,” the Bench concluded. Before the single judge, Murari also sought to restrain the ECI from recognizing and treating AIMIM as a registered political party. AIMIM was founded in 1958. The plea was filed in 2018. Murari was a member of Shiv Sena party then. It was his case that AIMIM did not fulfil the conditions laid down in Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which deals with registration of associations and bodies as political parties with ECI. It was his case that the constitution of AIMIM was intended to further the cause only of one religious community- Muslims, and thus militates against the principles of secularism, to which every political party must adhere under the scheme of the Constitution of India and RP Act.Rejecting his plea, the single judge had said that AIMIM fulfilled the legal requirement that the constitutional documents of a political party should declare that it bears true faith and allegiance to the Constitution, as well as to the basic tenets of socialism, secularism, and democracy.Counsel for Appellant: Mr Hari Shankar Jain, Mr Vishnu Shankar Jain, Mr Parth Yadav, Ms Mani Munjal, and Ms Khushboo Tomar, AdvocatesCounsel for Respondent: Mr Shashank Bajpai, CGSC, Mr Vedansh Anand, GP, Ms Stuti Karwal, and Mr Soumyadip Chakraborty, Advocate for UOI; Ms Suruchi Suri, SC for ECITitle: TIRUPATI NARASHIMA MURARI v. UNION OF INDIA & ORSCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 88Click here to read order

Delhi High Court Upholds Dismissal Of Plea Against ECI Registration Granted To AIMIM As Political Party

Nupur Thapliyal

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