Justice Krishna Rao of the Calcutta High Court lectured the Election Commission on Thursday, stating bluntly that the poll panel "should act fairly." The court questioned why the EC handed the 'envelope' symbol to the newly formed Democratic Trinamool Congress when the India Sagarmahal Front (ISF) also has a candidate in the upcoming Nandigram assembly bypoll. The judge noted that 183 free symbols were available, making the specific reassignment to a contested symbol unnecessary and provocative.
"Your authority is pinching the persons and creating legal proceedings; is this the way of the authority to work?" Justice Rao asked the EC’s counsel. The ISF, represented by senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, argued that having fought the last assembly election with the 'envelope' symbol just four months prior, they deserved continuity in the bypoll. Bhattacharya warned that this move risks spoiling the constitutional body's credibility by creating confusion on the ballot paper.
The EC’s counsel, Anamika Pandey, defended the action by noting the ISF is a registered but not recognized party, meaning it is entitled only to a free symbol. She claimed the 'envelope' became available again after the ISF won just one seat in the previous election, allowing the EC to allot it to any party nationwide. However, the court was unmoved by the procedural justification, focusing instead on the lack of a proper notification for symbol allotment.
The Nandigram bypoll is scheduled for October 6, following the vacating of the seat by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. The High Court adjourned the matter until Friday, giving the EC time to take instructions on why no formal notification was issued for the symbol allocation. The judge also pressed the Democratic Trinamool Congress' lawyer on why the new party specifically insisted on the 'envelope,' to which the counsel replied it was their first choice among three options.