AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran seeking "Pressure Cooker" as a symbol for the Lok Sabha Elections
The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Election Commission's response on a plea by AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran seeking "Pressure Cooker" as a symbol for both the Lok Sabha polls and Assembly by-elections.
Seeking a response from the election panel, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna agreed to hear the matter on March 25.
The plea by Mr Dhinakaran and VK Sasikala, now jailed in a disproportionate assets case, was opposed by senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, contending that they (Mr Dhinakaran and Ms Saskala) have floated a new party.
Mr Rohatgi appeared for the AIADMK and insisted that the party's symbol was "Two Leaves".
It is believed that the AIADMK is opposed to Mr Dhinakaran getting the 'Pressure Cooker' symbol for both Lok Sabha and Assembly by-elections.
In a setback to Mr Dhinakaran, the Delhi High Court had on February 28 dismissed AMMK's challenge to the Election Commission's decision of awarding the 'Two Leaves' symbol to AIADMK led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami.
After the AIADMK split into two, the EC recognised Mr Palaniswami's group as the real AIADMK and allotted it the 'Two Leaves' poll symbol.
On February 7, a top court bench of Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Ajay Rastogi asked the poll panel to consider allotting a common symbol - Pressure Cooker - to the Dhinakaran-led AMMK.