New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Sharad Pawar bloc to use the party symbol 'man blowing turha' (a traditional trumpet also known as tutari) for Lok Sabha and Assembly polls and directed the Election Commission to recognise the same. The Court also allowed the faction to use 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar' as its name for the upcoming elections.
The apex court refused to grant interim relief of stay of ECI order as sought by Sharad Pawar group. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan directed that the Ajit Pawar faction should make a public declaration that the 'clock' symbol, used by it for the ensuing Lok Sabha and the Maharashtra Assembly Elections is sub-judice, and subject to the outcome of the challenge made by the Sharad Pawar group to the decision of the Election Commission.
The bench passed the order on a plea by the Sharad Pawar group seeking to restrain the Ajit Pawar faction from using the 'clock' symbol for the polls, as allotted by the Election Commission, on the ground that it is disrupting the level playing field. The NCP, founded by Sharad Pawar, had 'clock' as its election symbol before its split. The symbol is now with the Ajit Pawar faction.
The bench directed the Election Commission and State Election Commission (SEC) to recognise the 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar' and its symbol 'man blowing turha'. It also asked the EC to not allot the 'man blowing turha' symbol to any other party or an independent candidate.
It asked the Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar-led faction to issue a public notice in newspapers in English, Hindi and Marathi saying that the 'clock' symbol is sub-judice and its use is subject to adjudication. The bench said the Ajit Pawar faction should make similar declarations in all election related audio-visual advertisements and publicity material like banners and posters.
“It is submitted that the answering Respondent has already started its campaign for the election and has given vide publicity to the fact that it is the real Nationalist Congress Party and shall contest the elections on the Symbol Clock. The answering Respondent has spent considerable time educating the voters on the extant factual position and any injunction on the use of the Symbol Clock shall gravely prejudice the answering Respondent”, said Ajit Pawar’s written response filed through advocate Abhikalp Pratap Singh.
The court asked the Ajit Pawar camp to file its response within four weeks on the Sharad Pawar group's plea against the February 6 order of the Election Commission recognising the former as the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). On February 19, the top court had directed that the Election Commission's order allotting 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar' as the party name for the Sharad Pawar faction will continue till further orders.
