India, Sept. 25 -- The Calcutta High Court on Thursday came down heavily on the Election Commission over reassignment of the 'envelope' symbol to the newly formed Democratic Trinamool Congress from the ISF, observing that the poll panel "should act fairly".

Noting that the EC has 183 free election symbols at its disposal, the court asked why the Commission gave the 'envelope' symbol to a party contesting the by-election in West Bengal's Nandigram, where the ISF has also fielded a candidate.

The court verbally observed that the symbol should have been kept reserved. "The authority should act fairly," Justice Krishna Rao observed.

The High Court adjourned the hearing until Friday on a prayer by the EC's counsel to take instructions on wh...