Kolkata, Oct. 26 -- The Supreme Court has granted 20 more days to two rival factions of the Trinamool Congress to complete their pleadings before the Election Commission in the dispute over the party's name and its 'flowers and grass' symbol.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana passed the order after hearing submissions from lawyers representing the Mamata Banerjee-led faction and the Ritabrata Banerjee-led Democratic Trinamool Congress.
Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for the Mamata faction, told the court that the rival group had not filed the requisite documents before the poll panel. Representing the Democratic Trinamool Congress, senior advocate K Parmeswar cited difficulties in procuring non-judicial stamp papers during the Dussehra festivities and sought additional time.
The court granted the Ritabrata-led faction 10 days to file its counter-affidavit and supporting documents. The Mamata faction will then have another 10 days to submit its rejoinder. Both sides can challenge the admissibility of documents submitted by their opponents.
On September 28, the court had directed the Election Commission to decide the dispute within four months, subject to completion of the pleadings.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.