Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider the appeal submitted by Aam Aadmi Party for granting national party status to the AAP by August 13. A bench headed by Justice M Nagaprasanna heard the petition filed by Aam Aadmi Party Karnataka state secretary Darshan Jain on Thursday. Also, the state election notification will be out on April 13. In this backdrop, the court has directed the Election Commission that an appropriate decision should be taken by considering the appeal filed on December 19, 2022 seeking the status of AAP as a national party. The court disposed of the petition.
Senior advocate K Diwakar, who argued for the petitioner, during the hearing said that the Aam Aadmi Party had earned the status of a national party by getting a good number of votes in the assembly elections of four states. Accordingly, on December 19, 2022, a request was submitted to the Election Commission to grant national status to the party.
The Election Commission is yet to consider and grant the national status even though an appeal has been submitted again on March 15, 2023. Now, the election notification will be issued in Karnataka. So, in the meantime, the AAP's counsel urged the court that a direction be given to the ECI to consider the appeal.
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Then the court asked the Counsel for the Election Commission of India that why the appeal submitted in this regard was not considered. Is the Election Commission not an independent body? Advocate Sharath Doddawada, who argued for the Election Commission, said that the petition filed by AAP is under scrutiny by the Commission. He explained to the bench that the Commission will review the matter within a week and take an appropriate decision. After hearing the arguments, the bench directed the Commission to consider the appeal within April 13 and disposed of the application.
