SC dismisses petition seeking freeze on BJP's lotus symbol

The Supreme Court dismissed a petition that sought freezing of BJP's election symbol "Lotus" on the ground that it was a "national flower" and its use during elections was illegal.

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition that sought freezing of BJP's election symbol "Lotus" on the ground that it was a "national flower" and its use during elections was illegal.

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"You show us any rule or legislation which says that lotus is a national flower," a three-judge bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, VS Sirpurkar and P Sathasivam remarked tersely while dismissing the petition filed by Shaheen Parvez, a woman advocate from Uttar Pradesh.

The petitioner argued that BJP was not entitled to the "lotus" symbol as it was a "national flower" and using the same for electoral purposes was violative of the National Emblem of the Emblems & Names (prevention of improper use) Act 1950.

Shaheen claimed "lotus" was a "national flower" like the "national animal" (tiger) and "national bird" (peacock.)

She quoted certain mythological texts to claim that lotus was a divine flower held in high esteem by Indians and hence should not be "misused" for electoral purposes.

The petitoner through her counsel Irshad Hanif alleged BJP was using the lotus symbol to "mislead" the voters and gain political advantage.