ORDER :

Prayer: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus calling for the records of the 2nd Respondent culminating in its letter bearing number Lr. No. Rc.No.2408/2021/EG-B2 dated 17.09.2021 quash the same as illegal Arbitrary and consequently direct the Second Respondent to consider the representation of the petitioners political party dated 14.09.2021 and allot a common Television Symbol to the petitioners political party.

The petitioner, a registered unrecognised political party, complains of the refusal by the State Election Commission to allot the television symbol to the petitioner for the forthcoming elections to local bodies in the State. The petitioner refers to a publication issued by the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission on March 23, 2020 pertaining to, inter alia, allotment of symbols. According to the amendment introduced by the said notification, paragraph 7(1)C of the Tamil Nadu Local Bodies Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 2019 provides for a concession to candidates of unrecognised political parties which were earlier recognised parties. The petitioner relies on the following