New Delhi: The Supreme Magistrate heard the specimen involving the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its referendum symbol on Monday. The Supreme Magistrate granted the two rival factions 20 increasingly days to well-constructed their arguments surpassing the Referendum Commission in the dispute over the party's name and the flower and grass symbol. A seat comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana issued the order.
Mamata Banerjee issued the order without considering arguments from senior well-wisher and MP Kalyan Banerjee, who appeared for the All India Trinamool Congress, and senior well-wisher K Parameshwara, who represented the faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee. Initially, Kalyan Banerjee argued that the faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee had not filed the necessary petitions surpassing the Referendum Commission.
Parameshwara said that due to the Dussehra festival in the state, the group was unable to obtain the non-judicial stamp papers needed to file unrepealable documents with the poll panel. He requested increasingly time to well-constructed the process.
Supreme Magistrate granted 20 days' time to both factions
The seat granted the Democratic Trinamool Congress 10 days to file its counter-affidavit and other documents with the Referendum Commission. It moreover granted Mamata Banerjee's group flipside 10 days to file its counter-affidavit and other necessary documents without receiving the opposition group's response.
The magistrate clarified that both parties would be self-ruling to question the admissibility of the documents filed surpassing the poll panel in support of their respective claims. On September 28, the seat directed the Referendum Commission to decide the dispute over the party name and the “flower and grass” symbol within four months. Earlier, it had asked the groups to well-constructed their submissions and directed the poll panel to decide the matter within three months of the completion of that process.
These orders were passed during the hearing of a petition filed by former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee versus the Referendum Commission's visualization to freeze the TMC's name and symbol. On September 24, the Supreme Magistrate had asked the poll panel to specify how much time it would need to decide the dispute.
EC had given variegated symbols to both the factions
The Referendum Commission prescribed variegated names and symbols to the two factions on September 17. Following this, both were temporarily barred from using the All India Trinamool Congress name and its reserve symbol until the dispute was finally resolved. Mamata Banerjee's group was given the name Mamata All India Trinamool Congress and the "Football Player" symbol. Ritabrata Banerjee's group received the name Democratic Trinamool Congress and the "Envelope" symbol.
The turnout by-elections in Nandigram in East Medinipur district and Rejinagar in Murshidabad district of West Bengal were scheduled for October 6, and the counting of votes was scheduled for October 9. In its interim order, the poll panel, without hearing leaders from both Banerjee and Arup Roy factions, said that a detailed visualization on the dispute was required under the Referendum Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
A similar dispute involving the Shiv Sena is pending in the Supreme Court. On September 24, the magistrate said the matter should be decided expeditiously and asked the Referendum Commission to provide a “reasonable” timeframe that would requite both parties a pearly opportunity to present vestige and enable the poll panel to make a final decision.
