IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE SIXTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE B.PRAKASH RAO And THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD WRIT PETITION NO.2084 of 2009 Between: Mana Party, A Regd. Political Party Having Its Regd. office at 8-3-735/A, Yellareddyguda, Hyderabad, rep. by its Authorised Spokes person Mr. K. Satyanarayana S./o. Venkata Swamy, 63 yrs, R/o. 1-1-379, SRT 384, Ashoknagar, Hyderabad. ...PETITIONER AND 1 The Election Commission of India, represented by its Secretary, New Delhi. 2 The State Election Commission of Andhra Pradesh, represented by its Secretary at Hyderabad. ...RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ and direct the 1st respondent to consider the representation dt. 11- 11-08 of the petitioner and pass appropriate orders allotting a common free Symbol to the candidates of the petitioner party who are going to contest in ensuing Assembly/Parliamentary constituencies as members of the petitioner-political party, in terms of the representation of the petitioner dt. 11-11-08. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.M.S.RAMCHANDRA RAO Counsel for the Respondents: SMT.C.JAYASREE SARATHY The Court made the following: THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE B.PRAKASH RAO And THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD WRIT PETITION NO.2084 of 2009 ORDER: (Per the Hon’ble Mr Justice B.Prakash Rao) Heard Sri M.S.Ramachandra Rao, learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner and Sri C.P.Sarathy, learned Senior Counsel representing Smt.C.Jayasree Sarathy, learned Standing Counsel appearing for respondents 1 and 2. At their request and with their consent, the Writ Petition itself is taken up for final disposal at the admission stage. The petitioner herein is a registered political party namely ‘Mana Party’ which filed this Writ Petition seeking a Writ of Mandamus to direct the first respondent to consider its representation dated 11.11.2008 for allotting a common free symbol to the candidates of the petitioner-party, who are going to contest in ensuing Assembly/Parliamentary Constituencies elections. The case of the petitioner, in short, is to the effect that the petitioner being newly formed and registered by the first respondent sought for a common symbol to its candidates in the ensuing elections as per the representation dated 11.11.2008 and the same is still pending. Considering the scope of The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 and the principles laid down by this Court, we have already passed an order in W.P.No.1994 of 2009 dated 06.02.2009, where the first respondent rejected a representation and the said matter has been directed to be reconsidered keeping in view the decision of the Division Bench of this Court in Telengana Rashtra Samithi, Hyderabad v. Election Commission of India[1] while setting aside the rejection order therein. Hence, it is not necessary to go into the merits of the case and since the representation is still pending and no orders are passed, the matter can be disposed of as expeditiously as possible. The Writ Petition is, accordingly, disposed of with a direction to the first respondent to consider the representation of the petitioner in accordance with law within a period of three {3} weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, after giving due and sufficient opportunity to the petitioner. No costs. _________________ (B.PRAKASH RAO, J) ___________________ (G.BHAVANI PRASAD, J) 6th February 2009 RRB THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE B.PRAKASH RAO And THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD WRIT PETITION NO.2084 of 2009 DATE: 6.2.2009 [1] 2004 (1) ALT 382 (D.B.)