In Brief
The Supreme Court held that the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference was entitled to the Plough symbol for Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council elections. Although the Election Commission of India had not notified the party as a State Party for the Union Territory of Ladakh following the 2019 bifurcation, the party had been allotted the symbol in the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir. Since no other party had a competing claim and the symbol was neither reserved nor listed as free, the party's request was legitimate. The Court upheld the High Court's direction granting the symbol, rejecting arguments that administrative delay should defeat a just cause.
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