The Hindu : National : Plea seeking cancellation of ‘lotus’ symbol dismissed

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Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009
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Plea seeking cancellation of ‘lotus’ symbol dismissed

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed at the admission stage a special leave petition against a Delhi High Court order rejecting a public interest litigation plea seeking cancellation of the ‘lotus’ symbol allotted to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

A Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices V.S. Sirpurkar and P. Sathasivam dismissed the SLP of Shaheen Parvez, who contended that the lotus being a national symbol, its allotment to the BJP was against the provisions of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act.

The petitioner said she wrote letters to the Election Commission in 2004 and 2006 seeking cancellation of the symbol. The Commission rejected her representation on the ground that the BJP had been reserved this symbol for about 25 years and earlier it was used by independents as a free symbol. The High Court dismissed her petition against this order in December 2008.

The petitioner contended that lotus being a national flower could not become a property of a political party and used as an election symbol for political gain.

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