The Supreme Court on Monday granted 20 additional days to the two rival factions of the All India Trinamool Congress to complete their pleadings before the Election Commission in a dispute over the party's name and its reserved "flowers and grass" election symbol.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana passed the order after hearing senior lawyer and MP Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for the Mamata All India Trinamool Congress, and senior advocate K Parmeswar, representing the Ritabrata Banerjee-led Democratic Trinamool Congress.
The court had earlier directed the Election Commission to decide the dispute within four months, following its September 28 order.
๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ
At the outset, Kalyan Banerjee submitted that the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction had not filed the requisite pleadings before the Election Commission.
Responding to the submission, Parmeswar said the faction could not obtain non-judicial stamp papers required for filing certain documents because of Dussehra festivities in West Bengal.
He sought additional time to complete the formalities.
The bench subsequently granted 10 days to the Democratic Trinamool Congress to file its counter-affidavit and other necessary documents before the poll panel.
It also granted another 10 days to the Mamata Banerjee-led faction to submit its rejoinder and other relevant documents after receiving the rival faction's response.
The court clarified that both parties would be free to question the admissibility of documents submitted by the other side in support of their respective claims.
๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ฒ
The Supreme Court had earlier asked both factions to complete their pleadings before the Election Commission and directed the poll panel to decide the matter within three months after the submissions were completed.
The proceedings arise from a petition filed by former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee challenging the Election Commission's decision to freeze the All India Trinamool Congress name and its reserved election symbol.
During a hearing on September 24, the apex court had asked the Election Commission to specify the time required to reach a final decision on the competing claims.
The court subsequently directed the poll panel to decide the dispute within four months.
๐ฅ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ผ๐น๐
On September 17, the Election Commission allotted separate names and election symbols to the two factions after temporarily barring both groups from using the All India Trinamool Congress name and its reserved "flowers and grass" symbol.
The Mamata Banerjee-led faction was allotted the name Mamata All India Trinamool Congress and the "football player" symbol.
The Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction received the name Democratic Trinamool Congress and the "envelope" symbol.
The interim arrangement was made pending a final determination of the dispute under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
The poll panel had observed that the competing claims required substantive examination before a final decision could be reached.
๐ฆ๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด
A similar dispute concerning the Shiv Sena is also pending before the Supreme Court.
During proceedings on September 24, the apex court said the matter should be decided expeditiously and asked the Election Commission to suggest a reasonable time frame that would allow both factions a fair opportunity to present their evidence.
The latest order in the Trinamool Congress dispute gives both factions additional time to complete their submissions before the Election Commission proceeds with its examination of their claims to the party name and reserved symbol.