The ruling BRS approached the apex court seeking a directive against the ECI allotting "Road Roller" to the Yuga Tulasi Party.
Published Oct 20, 2023 | 4:00 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 20, 2023 | 4:01 PM
The Supreme Court of India. (iStock)
In a setback to the ruling BRS in Telangana, the Supreme Court on Friday, 20 October, refused to entertain its plea challenging the Election Commission of India (ECI) allotting “Road Roller” as a poll symbol to the Yuga Tulasi Party.
The BRS challenged the ECI saying the “Road Roller” looked similar to its symbol, “Car”.
Dismissing the BRS petition, the apex court stated that the Indian voters were not so illiterate as to fail to distinguish between different symbols.
“We don’t think Indian voters are so illiterate that they would not be able to differentiate between a Car and a Road Roller,” a bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Pankaj Mithal said while allowing the BRS to withdraw its plea and approach the high court.
Expressing doubt over whether even the high court would entertain the plea, Justice Oka said that the “Car” symbol and the “Road Roller” could be easily distinguished.
“They are different symbols, they are clear to the naked eye,” Justice Oka said, while brushing aside the argument that they were confusing and illiterate voters would not be able to differentiate them.
The court was unconvinced by Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora’s argument that the distinction between the two would become unclear on the Electronic Voting Machine, where their display size would be less than a postal stamp.
Even as the hearing commenced, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for BRS, submitted the issue before the court. Justice Oka said, “You just want to postpone the election. Move the high court.”
“We have our own doubts. These are two smaller parties,” the bench observed during the hearing.
Noting that there was a delay in filing the plea, the bench said, “You are a political party. Where is the question of delay?”
“We dismiss the plea on the grounds of delay. We permit the liberty of approaching the high court”, the bench said in its order.
The BRS approached the Supreme Court seeking a directive to the ECI not to issue poll symbols similar to its “Car” symbol for the 30 November Assembly election in Telangana.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had refused to entertain the BRS’s plea on the issue. The BRS had said car-like symbols would confuse the voters, leading to the party losing its votes.
