Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Seeking Directions To Election Commission To Freeze AIADMK's "Two Leaves" Symbol

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea seeking directions to the Election Commission of India to freeze the AIADMK's "Two Leaves" symbols. The matter was listed before the bench of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, Justice Hima Kohli and Justice C.T. Ravikumar. The CJI, while stating that the petition was a "waste of time", dismissed the same.

The petitioner, PA Joseph, had earlier approached the Madras High Court praying for a direction to the Election Commission to take necessary action against the rival groups of the AIADMK and freeze the "Two Leaves" symbol, until the disputes between Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam were solved, to protect public order and peace in the state. The bench of Chief Justice M N Bhandari and Justice N Mala of Madras High Court, while stating that the petition was filed purely for publicity had dismissed the petition and a cost of Rs. 25,000 was imposed on the petitioner.

In the plea before the Supreme Court, the petitioner stated that not only was their PIL dismissed, but a cost of Rs. 25,000 was also imposed on them. The petitioner stated that his apprehensions were not unfounded. To this, the CJI remarked–

"How much cost do we have to impose on you? They have imposed 25,000, we will impose another 25,000. You are a busy body. You have no work. Dismissed."

CASE TITLE: P.A. JOSSEPH  v. THE ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA AND ANR. | SLP(C) No. 12895/2022

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