Yogendra Yadav-led Swaraj India's plea for a common symbol for its candidate contesting the upcoming MCD polls was rejected on Wednesday by the Delhi High Court which asked it to first "make a place for itself under the sun" and "prove its mettle".
Justice Hima Kohli rejected the newly formed political party's claim that denial of a common symbol to it was a violation of its fundamental rights under the Constitution, saying "The right to elect and be elected is a statutory right and not a fundamental or common law right".
The judge said a newly formed political party is not entitled as a matter of right to claim exclusive allotment of a common election symbol for the benefit of the candidates nominated by it at the Municipal elections.
"Instead, its candidates are required to choose from one of the free symbols notified by the State Election Commission (SEC)," said the court, adding that in view of this legal position the party "cannot raise a grievance it was being discriminated against.
"As the position stands today, it cannot be stated that there has been any discrimination against petitioner (Swaraj India) on account of declining reservation of a common symbol for its exclusive use on the ground that it is not a recognised political party.
"This time, the petitioner shall have to enter the fray by participating in the MCD elections as an unrecognised registered political party and make a place for itself under the sun. Only after proving its mettle, can it seek recognition as a registered political party and as a corollary thereto, claim entitlement to a common symbol..," the court said.
It also said since the electronic voting machines would now carry photographs of the candidates, Swaraj India would not be put to any disadvantage if there was no common symbol.
The court agreed with the argument of the State Election Commission (SEC), represented by advocate Sumeet Pushkarna, that the party did not come to the court at the earliest despite being aware that the poll process was imminent.
It noted that Swaraj India approached the court once the election process was "well under way" and said it was "too late in the day" to grant the relief sought by the party.
Swaraj India had claimed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the SEC of some other states have relaxed the norms for grant of a common symbol to unrecognized registered political parties and blamed the Delhi SEC for not doing so.
Rejecting the contention, the court said merely because the ECI and other SECs have relaxed the norms it "cannot be a ground to find fault" with the Delhi SEC.