Kerala Congress (M) image row: SC dismisses PJ Joseph plea difficult EC order

By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an attraction filed by senior Kerala Congress chief P J Joseph difficult the Election Commission’s order recognising the Jose K Mani faction because the official Kerala Congress (M) and allotting the occasion’s image to it.

A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian dismissed Joseph’s attraction difficult the Kerala High Court order upholding the Election Commission’s order granting it the official election image of ‘Two Leaves’.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan appeared for Joseph and submitted that no materials was accessible with the ballot panel to carry that Mani’s faction was the true Kerala Congress (M) occasion.

The bench, nevertheless, mentioned that it was not inclined to intrude with the choice of the High Court.

Joseph had moved the highest court docket towards judgement of division bench of the Kerala High Court which upheld a single decide’s verdict upholding the Election Commission’s order.

A single bench of the High Court had dismissed Joseph’s plea saying the conclusions of the Commission can’t be mentioned to be perverse and it can’t be mentioned that no affordable particular person can arrive at such conclusions.

In a majority verdict, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra had held that the Jose K Mani faction was the Kerala Congress (Mani) and entitled to make use of its title and its reserved image Two Leaves for the needs of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.

The dispute within the occasion arose between vice-chairman Jose and dealing chairman Joseph following the dying of occasion chairman K M Mani in 2019.

Challenging the EC choice, Joseph had submitted that Jose K Mani raised a declare that he was elected chairman of the occasion at a state committee assembly held on June 16 final yr however a civil court docket held that the election was not, prima facie, legitimate.

“However, Jose K Mani approached the election fee claiming majority within the 450-member state committee.

“Finding that there were differences in the lists of state committee members submitted before it, the Election Commission created a list of 305 members who were common in both the lists and applied a majority test, which resulted in the order,” Joseph had mentioned within the plea within the excessive court docket.