SC issues notice to EC, Govt on parties using religious names, symbols

The Supreme Court gave notice of a petition Monday asking that political parties’ registrations be revoked if they include religious symbols or names in their nomenclature.

According to Indian Express, the central government and the Election Commission were asked to respond to the petition, and a bench of Justices M R Shah and Krishna Murari set the hearing date for October 18 after receiving their responses. The petitioner, Syed Waseem Rizvi, a former chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board, was also given permission by the court to include parties in the proceedings who he said were doing this.

Advocate Gaurav Bhatia, who was representing Rizvi, stated that there are two registered political parties with religious names in their titles. In addition to mentioning other parties like the Hindu Ekta Andolan Party, the Christian Democratic Front, the Sehajdhari Sikh Party, etc., he claimed that the names of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and All India Majlis-e-lttehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) both contain the word “Muslim” in their names.

The court inquired as to whether they participated in political campaigns like the IUML and AIMIM.

According to Bhatia, parties with such names are in violation of the Representation of People Act of 1951 and the fundamental constitutional concept of secularism. According to him, “an appeal to vote on the basis of the religion (or caste, community, race, or language) of a candidate or to refrain from voting for a candidate on the basis of these features” would amount to a corrupt practise, as stated by the SC in its interpretation of the Abhiram Singh vs. C D Commachen ruling from January 2017.

In his argument, Rizvi emphasised how the prohibition stems from the constitutional requirement of secularism.

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