Attempt to postpone polls: SC tells BRS on petition to bar car-like symbols

The BRS filed a writ petition ahead of the Nov 20 state election, saying in the past the party lost votes as symbols resembling a car were allotted by the ECI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said Indian voters are not so illiterate to confuse between a “chapati” roller and a car as it directed the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), the ruling party in Telangana, seeking an order against the Election Commission of India (ECI) not to allot any free symbol similar to its poll symbol of car for the upcoming assembly elections in the state, to approach the high court.

The SC said if BRS is aggrieved in a case of identical symbol being allotted, there is a remedy of filing an election petition. (PTI)

A bench of justices comprising AS Oka and Pankaj Mithal said: “We do not think the Indian voter is so illiterate that they won’t understand the difference between a chapati roller or a road roller with a car,” as the Court refused to entertain such matters and said, “You just want to postpone the election. We will not interfere.”

The bench allowed the BRS to withdraw its plea and approach the high court while observing: “These are not matters where Courts must entertain. We have our own doubts if high court can also entertain this petition.”

The BRS had filed a writ petition ahead of the state elections scheduled for November 30, saying in the past the party lost votes as symbols resembling a car were allotted by the ECI.

The BRS also filed an appeal against an October 2022 ruling by the Telangana high court refusing to grant relief to the party which made a similar appeal during an assembly bypoll last year. Early this week, the party had even raised the issue before the Delhi high court but withdrew its petition to approach the top court.

Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Meenakshi Arora appearing for the party, referred to a whole list of symbols that resemble the party symbol. They explained that earlier, during paper ballots, the symbol of the candidate used to be bigger in size. However, with the advent of electronic voting machines (EVM), the image of the party symbol is of the size of a postage stamp. “The voters may not identify which is the symbol for which they wish to vote,” Arora said.

The bench remarked, “You are presuming that a small party will defeat your candidate,” and dismissed the appeal by BRS on the ground of delay. The Court pointed out that the order of the Talangana HC was passed in October last year and a petition against it was filed on October 17 this year, after almost a year.

“You are a political party. Knowing that you suffered an order, you have come now when the elections are round the corner. We will dismiss your appeal only on the ground of delay,” the bench said.

Further, the bench said that if at all the party is aggrieved in a case of identical symbol being allotted, there is a remedy of filing an election petition. “How can we interfere with allotment of symbols and whether they are similar or dissimilar, especially when the election programme has already been announced,” the bench remarked.