Delhi High Court granted a final opportunity to the Centre and several opposition parties on Tuesday to respond to a petition seeking to restrain them from using the acronym I.N.D.I.A. (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance).
A division bench of acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora ordered that replies be filed within one week to the public interest litigation.
The litigation alleged that by using the I.N.D.I.A. acronym, the parties were exploiting the name of the country.
The high court declined to advance the date of hearing of the petition, stating that efforts would be made to hear and dispose of the petition on April 10.
“The contesting respondents are given the last and final opportunity to file their replies within a week,” the bench stated.
The court heard an application by petitioner Girish Bharadwaj seeking expedited hearing of the matter, noting that the petition has been pending since August 2023 and pleadings are yet to be completed.
The election schedule has already been announced by the Election Commission. Appearing for the petitioner, Advocate Vaibhav Singh asserted that the central government and the opposition parties have been afforded eight opportunities to submit their replies, yet they remain silent.
Advocate Sidhant Kumar apprised the court of the ECI’s submission of its reply. In November 2023, counsel for the central government petitioned the court for an additional week or 10 days to file their response.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing nine political parties including Congress, Trinamool Congress, and DMK, among others, highlighted “preliminary objections” against the petition, emphasizing that the Supreme Court has already addressed the matter. Previously, the petitioner had approached the high court seeking an interim order to cease the utilization of the acronym INDIA by 26 political parties and to bar the usage of the national flag with the acronym INDIA by the respondent political alliance. The court had issued notice on the petition in August 2023.
The political parties designated as respondents include Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, Aam Aadmi Party, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar), Shiv Sena (UBT), Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal, and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi).