Should religious parties with religious connotations be banned?
New Delhi, May 25: The Delhi High Court sought response of the Centre and Election Commission (EC) on a PIL to review political parties having names with religious connotations or using symbols similar to that of the national flag and to de-register them if they do not change them within three months.
A bench of Chief Justice Rajender Menon and Justice AJ Bhambhani issued notice to the central government and the EC seeking its stand on the plea by BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.
The EC opposed maintainability of the petition, saying the issues raised in it have been taken care of by the poll panel.
"Let us see how it has been taken care of," the bench said and listed the matter for hearing on July 17.
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Upadhyay, also a lawyer, has contended in his plea that use of names with religious connotations or symbols similar to the national flag or emblem might prejudicially affect the poll prospects of a candidate and would amount to a corrupt practice under the Representation of the People Act (RPA) of 1951.
"Review the political parties, registered with religious, caste, ethnic or linguistic connotations and ensure that they are not using a flag, similar to the national flag and de-register them if they fail to change it within three months," the plea has said.
The
petition
has
claimed
that
such
a
step
would
help
to
ensure
free
and
fair
elections.
It
has
referred
to
political
parties
such
as
Hindu
Sena,
All
India
Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen
and
Indian
Union
Muslim
League
as
examples
of
names
with
religious
connotations
and
said
this
was
"against
the
spirit"
of
the
RPA
and
the
Model
Code
of
Conduct.
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"In addition, there are many political parties including the Indian National Congress, which use a flag similar to the national flag, which is also against the spirit of the RPA," the plea has said.