Kolkata, Sep 30 The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition by the ISF, challenging the Election Commission’s decision to reassign the 'envelope' poll symbol to the newly formed Democratic Trinamool Congress (DTC).
The ISF had moved the high court claiming that the 'envelope' symbol, with which it contested the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2026 assembly elections, was reassigned to the DTC despite its objection.
Justice Krishna Rao pronounced in court that the petition by the ISF is dismissed.
The EC had recently allotted the Nawsad Siddiqui-led ISF the 'almirah' symbol instead of the 'envelope' symbol.
Questioning whether it was a reasonable exercise of powers by the poll body, the ISF had prayed that the ‘envelope’ symbol be frozen by the EC.
The poll panel stated that the ISF is a registered but not recognised political party, and as such, it does not have the right to hold a symbol, unlike the BJP or the Congress.
The Commission's lawyer said during the arguments in court that the ‘envelope’ symbol was allotted to the ISF for use in only two elections.
The ISF and DTC have fielded candidates for the October 6 Nandigram assembly bypoll in West Bengal.
Petitioner’s counsel Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya had earlier argued that the bypoll was a continuation of the 2026 assembly election, and questioned how the 'envelope' symbol could be taken away from the ISF ahead of the by-election.
The EC’s counsel, however, had claimed that the ISF was already campaigning for the Nandigram bypoll with the newly allotted ‘almirah’ symbol, and that the petitioner’s intention was to stall the election.
Kolkata, Sep 30 The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition by the ISF, challenging the Election Commission’s decision to reassign the 'envelope' poll symbol to the newly formed Democratic Trinamool Congress (DTC).
The ISF had moved the high court claiming that the 'envelope' symbol, with which it contested the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2026 assembly elections, was reassigned to the DTC despite its objection.
Justice Krishna Rao pronounced in court that the petition by the ISF is dismissed.
The EC had recently allotted the Nawsad Siddiqui-led ISF the 'almirah' symbol instead of the 'envelope' symbol.
Questioning whether it was a reasonable exercise of powers by the poll body, the ISF had prayed that the ‘envelope’ symbol be frozen by the EC.
The EC stated that the ISF is a registered but not recognised political party, and as such, it does not have the right to hold a symbol, unlike the BJP or the Congress.
The poll body's lawyer said during the arguments in court that the ‘envelope’ symbol was allotted to the ISF for use in only two elections.
