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New Delhi, September 5
The Supreme Court on Monday issued discover to the Centre and Election Commission on a petition alleging misuse of non secular names and symbols by political events.
Asking the Centre and EC to reply to the petition filed by Syed Waseem Rizvi, a Bench led by Justice MR Shah gave liberty to the petitioner to implead the political events in opposition to whom he needed the highest court docket to difficulty instructions.
“The people must vote on the basis of anything except religion. If a candidate is elected on the basis of religious symbol/name, then the whole purpose of enacting sub-clause (3) of Section 123 of RP Act would cease to exist,” Rizvi contended.
On behalf of the petitioner, senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia submitted that names and symbols of a number of political events violated Representation of People Act, 1951 (RP Act) and a few of them even had their flags as crescent moon and stars.
As the Bench requested if the RP Act can be relevant if votes had been requested on the grounds of non secular beliefs, Bhatia referred to Section 123(3)(A) of Act and the highest court docket’s verdict judgment within the Abhiram Singh case.
Pointing out that the highest court docket in SR Bommai’s case dominated that secularism is part of fundamental construction, Bhatia asserted that political events can’t have names with spiritual connotation.
“The reasoning for such prohibition flows from the constitutional mandate of secularism which although never denies the presence of any supreme or supernatural power governing the Indians, it does not favour any religion on the cost of others,” the petitioner submitted.
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