The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) whether the group led by sidelined AIADMK leaders V.K. Sasikala and T.T.V Dhinakaran can use the ‘hat’ symbol to file the nomination in the coming by-election to the R.K .Nagar Assembly constituency in Chennai.
Justice S.P. Garg asked the ECI lawyer to take instructions and inform the court on this aspect.
The ' hat' symbol was given to the group by the ECI in March last after it froze the AIADMK's official ‘two-leaves’ symbol , to which the group led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E.K. Palaniswami and his deputy O. Panneerselvam had also staked claim. This faction was then granted the ‘electric pole’ symbol. However, on November 23, the ECI allotted the‘two-leaves’ symbol to it.
The Sasikala-T.T.V Dhinakaran group, in a plea, challenged this order of the ECI and sought an interim direction permitting it to use the ‘hat’ symbol to file the nomination for the bypoll.
However, the other faction contended before the court that only the returning officer can decide whether the Sasikala-led group can use the ‘hat’ symbol.
