Delhi HC grants last chance to Oppn parties to reply to PIL against ‘INDIA’ usage

April 2, 2024

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted the last chance to several opposition parties including the Congress, TMC and the DMK to respond within a week to a PIL seeking direction to stop using the acronym INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) for their bloc.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh refused to advance the hearing of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by businessman Girish Bharadwaj, aiming for resolution before the first phase of the Lok Sabha election scheduled for April 19.

Despite Bharadwaj’s counsel pushing for an earlier hearing date due to the impending elections and the PIL’s stagnation since its filing in August of the previous year, the bench chose to retain the original hearing date of April 10.

The counsel stressed delays and alleged mala fide behaviour by respondent political parties in filing their responses, while the Election Commission of India (ECI), through Advocate Sidhant Kumar, noted its reply was already submitted.

The court, reaffirming its schedule, granted a final opportunity for respondents to file counter affidavits within a week.

The Election Commission (EC) had earlier filed its counter affidavit and said that it cannot regulate political alliances under the Representation of People Act.

The court had then noted that only the EC has filed a response and some of the political parties named in the proceedings have not been served notice yet.