Plea In Kerala High Court Seeks Directions Upon Union Govt. & ECI To Prevent Use Of 'I.N.D.I.A.' Acronym By Opposition Political Parties

A Division Bench Comprising Chief Justice A.J. Desai and Justice V. G. Arun adjourned the plea for hearing at a later date. 

The petitioner was working as the President of the Christian Association and Alliance for Social Action (CASA) which is a registered society. He submitted that the members of the opposition party had formed an alliance called I.N.D.I.A. to contest the BJP-led NDA in the 2024 parliamentary elections by befooling the Indian electorate and is undue influence.

The plea also avers that the term I.N.D.I.A. was used as an attempt to create political hatred, and to deceive and polarize the voters.

“The respondent political parties are trying to use the name of the country as an acronym for their Alliance which may lead to political hatred, which can eventually lead to political violence. The name 'INDIA' has been improperly used to gain undue influence in elections by the newly formed alliance. By naming their alliance as INDIA, these parties have attempted to put undue influence on the electorate by personifying their alliance as the nation itself. This act of these parties has hurt the sentiments of all Indians who identify themselves as citizens of India.”, the plea stated.

The plea further averred that the name 'I.N.D.I.A.' is a national symbol and its commercial use was prohibited without permission from the Central Government or authorized officer under Section 3 of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950. The plea also avers that as per Section 4 of the Act, a political party which is an association or body of persons is prohibited from using such emblems or names.

The plea states that the action of the political alliance was to manipulate the voters by presenting other parties as anti-Indian. It is further averred that this was an attempt to distort the unity, public order, peace and tranquility in India and was against the ethos of the Constitution of India.

The petitioner argued that a similar plea was filed before the Delhi High Court, in which the Election Commission stated that it could not regulate political alliances under the Representation of People Act, 1951. The plea averred that in a public litigation before the Apex Court, it had directed the petitioner therein to withdraw the petition and to approach the Election Commission of India.

The petitioner in this case averred to have submitted a representation before the Government of India and the Election Commission of India seeking proper action to prevent the usage of the acronym I.N.D.I.A. by any political alliance. The plea stated that no actions had been taken so far on the representations.

Thus, the petitioner approached the High Court seeking a direction to the Election Commission of India and the Government of India to prevent the use of the acronym I.N.D.I.A. by political alliance parties. The petitioner also seeks a declaration that no political parties in India can use the acronym I.N.D.I.A. as the name of their political party of alliance.

The plea has been moved by Advocates C.Rajendran, B.K.Gopalakrishnan, K.Vijayan and Manu M. Standing Counsel, Deepu Lal Mohan appears for the Election Commission Of India.

Case Name: Kevin Peter Thomas v Union of India, WPC 41078/2023