Himachal Congress woman legislator booked for slapping cop
Shimla: Congress leader and Himachal Pradesh firebrand legislator Asha Kumari was booked on Friday for allegedly slapping a woman constable who was on duty outside the venue of a review meeting being conducted by Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
Gandhi was here for a daylong visit to assess the party's debacle in the recently held assembly elections in the state when the legislator from Dalhousie was allegedly trying to force her way into the venue.
Eyewitnesses said as the constable posted outside the Congress Bhawan tried to stop Asha Kumari, an AICC secretary, she got infuriated and allegedly slapped her.
In retaliation, the constable allegedly slapped her back.
It was on the intervention of others, including legislator and former Cabinet Minister Dhani Ram Shandil, that the tempers were soothed. Another legislator and former Cabinet Minister Mukesh Agnihotri was also accompanying Asha Kumari.
At the time, Gandhi was inside the office, meeting party legislators, defeated party candidates and local leaders to discuss the defeat of the Congress.
Later, Asha Kumari, a former state Education Minister from 2003-05, apologised.
"She (police constable) abused me and pushed me, she should have shown restraint. Yes, I agree I should not have lost my temper. I apologised," she told reporters.
She admitted Gandhi condemned the incident. "Our national president says such incidents should not happen."
Superintendent of Police Saumya Sambasivan told reporters that a case has been registered against the legislator on the complaint of the constable.
The BJP wrested power from the Congress, winning close to a two thirds majority with 44 seats in the 68-member Assembly. The Congress won 21 seats, independents two and the Communist Party of India-Marxist one.
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Delhi High Court upholds EC’s power to recognise national or state-level political parties
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court dismissed a petition questioning the Election Commission of India’s authority to recognise political parties as national or state-level entities on Friday, reaffirming the validity of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
According to a report published by The Hindu, the Bench comprising Justices Nitin Sambre and Anish Dayal held that the issues raised in the plea had already been settled by the Supreme Court and found no grounds to declare the Symbols Order either ultra vires or discriminatory. The court said the legal framework governing the recognition of political parties was backed by statutory provisions and long-standing judicial interpretation.
The petition was filed by the Hind Samrajya Party, a registered political party. It argued that the Election Commission lacked the power to classify parties as national or state-level. It also contended that recognised parties were granted election symbols well in advance, while newly registered parties received symbols only after the scrutiny stage, leaving them with limited time to campaign.
The High Court noted that the Supreme Court had already ruled that the allotment of election symbols could not be claimed as a fundamental right, rejecting these arguments. The Bench observed that differential treatment between recognised and unrecognised parties flowed from objective criteria laid down under the Symbols Order and the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The court said the inability of the petitioner, described as a Uttar Pradesh-based political party, to access privileges available to recognised parties did not amount to discrimination, while clarifying that such privileges were granted only after parties met prescribed qualifications under the law. The court concluded that the recognition process and symbol allotment mechanism followed by the Election Commission were legally sound and constitutionally valid.
