CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking orders to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to cancel BJP’s poll symbol ‘Lotus,’ citing that it is India’s national flower.The first bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy passed the orders on Wednesday. The petition was filed by ‘Gandhiyavathi’ T Ramesh, president of Ahimsa Socialist Party, based in Namakkal district. He said the lotus is the national flower of the country and it cannot be allotted as a poll symbol and such an allotment “is a disgrace to the national integrity”.The allotment of Lotus to BJP is a discrimination against other parties, amounting to gross injustice, he had submitted. The petitioner sought the court to issue a direction to the ECI to cancel the symbol by considering his representation submitted on September 27, 2023.As a pre-condition to check the bonafide of the petitioner, the bench sought him to deposit Rs 20,000 in the account of the High Court and he did so. After pronouncing the orders, the petitioner donated Rs.10,000 out of the deposit amount to the TN Legal Services Authority. The court ordered for a return of the remaining amount to the petitioner.
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