‘Litigation cannot be a hobby’, says SC

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed with cost a PIL that sought that the Election Commission (EC) be barred from allocating poll symbols claiming they were “misused” by political parties.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and A.S. Oka imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the petitioner while observing that the relief claimed was “disruptive of the election process” and that litigation cannot be a “hobby”. The bench while dismissing the “misleading” petition said it was a complete waste of judicial time. Petitioner advocate Shraddha Tripathi contended that Election Commission has no power to allot a symbol to political parties and only the Returning Officer can allot the symbols to contesting candidates.
“The law clearly states that the symbols are to be allotted at the election and by the Returning Officer and to the contesting candidate, what authority does the Election Commission possess to give the symbol to the political party and is creating a problem also,” the petitioner argued.
The top court was hearing a plea challenging the Allahabad High Court’s 2021 judgment which had dismissed a petition that said the Election Commission has no power to allot an election symbol.