Supreme Court sets timetable for Trinamool symbol dispute

The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission of India to decide which of two rival Trinamool Congress factions may use the party’s original name and flowers-and-grass symbol, setting a timetable of four weeks for submissions and three months for the Commission’s decision after those submissions are complete. The order was issued on September 28 while the court was hearing a petition by Mamata Banerjee challenging the Commission’s interim decision to freeze the original party identity. The court gave both factions four weeks to submit their pleadings and evidence. The Commission must then determine the dispute within three months. The timetable sets out a process lasting roughly four months, though the decision period begins after the submissions are completed. The ruling does not decide which faction is entitled to the name or symbol. That determination remains with the Election Commission, which is to consider the rival factions’ submissions. The dispute’s merits remain unresolved. The Commission’s interim arrangement bars both groups from using the All India Trinamool Congress name and the party’s flowers-and-grass symbol while the claims are examined.