Kerala High Court stays ECI order delisting Kerala Congress, other political parties ahead of panchayat polls

The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted interim relief to Kerala Congress and several other political parties by staying the Election Commission of India's (ECI) order that had removed them from the list of Registered Political Parties and added them to the list of Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (Delisted RUPPs) [Kerala Congress (Skariah Thomas) v The Chief Electoral Officer & Secretary Election & anr and connected cases].Justice VG Arun noted that Section 29A does not contain any provision empowering the ECI to cancel or delist a registered political party and emphasised on the Supreme Court's ruling in Indian National Congress (I) v Institute of Social Welfare and Others (2002) 5 SCC 685, which had expressly held that the Election Commission did not have the authority to deregister a party except in limited circumstances such as fraud, forgery, or violation of the constitutional undertaking mandated under Section 29A(5)."No provision for cancellation of registration is provided in Section 29A," the Court observed.It also said that the ECI's reliance on the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 to justify its delisting power appeared prima facie unsustainable, as the order only dealt with allocation, reservation of symbols and recognition of parties, not cancellation of registration..The Court passed the interim order while hearing a batch of petitions filed by political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.The petitions had challenged the ECI's decision in an order where the petitioners were marked as 'Delisted RUPPs.'The petitioners submitted that coalition politics often required smaller constituent parties to refrain from contesting major elections, and that their members had actively participated in recent local body polls, which showed that they were involved in political activity.They also challenged the procedural fairness of the delisting exercise by the ECI, stating that the show cause notices were issued by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Kerala, who conducted the hearing.However, the final order was passed by the ECI alone, violating the principle that the authority which hears must decide.One petitioner even pointed out that the so called hearing was held on a day declared as public holiday following the death of former Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan making the proceeding meaningless.ECI, on the other hand, defended its decision, arguing that it had plenary powers to ensure transparency in the electoral process.It stated that continued benefits and privileges extended to RUPPs couldn't be justified if a party remained inactive.The ECI added that appeals filed by the petitioners were still pending before the ECI and therefore, they could not simultaneously challenge the same issue before the High Court.The Court noted that the petitioner's failure to contest parliamentary or assembly elections for six years cannot, at first glance, be treated as a valid ground for delisting..Considering that local body elections were underway and the ECI itself had expressed that it had no objection to the petitioners nominating candidates in the ongoing polls, the Court granted interim relief to the petitioners by staying the delisting order to the extent that it removed the petitioners from the registered political parties list.It also allowed the candidates to contest the elections using the symbols allotted by the State Election Commission provided those symbols had not already been allocated to others.The petition will be heard next on January 5, 2026..Senior counsel EK Nandakumar along with advocates M Gopikrishnan Nambiar, K John Mathai, Joson Manavalan, Kuryan Thomas, Paulose C Abraham, Raja Kannan, Jai Mohan and Pooja Menon appeared for the petitioner.Standing counsel M Ajay represented the Election Commission of India.Advocate Deepu Lal Mohan appeared for the State Election Commission..[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.