Delhi HC Declines Plea On Odisha Govt Ads Using BJD Symbol

OB Bureau

January 12, 2024 3:11 pm

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea to stop the Odisha government from using the election symbol of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in advertisements about welfare schemes.

“That is the story in each state. It is not unique to one state. It is happening everywhere,” a bench comprising acting chief justice Manmohan and justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora told Jatin Mohanty, general secretary of the Odisha unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who petitioned the high court on the advertisements.

However, Mohanty was allowed to file the petition before the Orissa high court. The bench said the cause of action had arisen in Orissa and the state’s high court would be the proper forum to deal with the issue. “Go there. Raise it over there. Everything happened in Odisha. Advertisements were done in Odisha…. This court is overburdened. We cannot do it in this manner…. They will decide, not us,” the court said, according to Hindustan Times.

In his petition, Mohanty also sought directions to the Election Commission of India to take action against the BJD, saying the Odisha government had spent Rs 378 crore on advertisements in the last five years to promote the ruling party. In many of them, he said, the BJD’s party symbol, ‘Conch’, was used. The plea also sought directions to prohibit the Orissa government from issuing any more advertisements of the state welfare scheme using the BJD’s symbol.