SC sets aside notification for Ladakh council polls, allots plough symbol to National Conference

The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside a notification for elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council and directed the Union Territory to issue a fresh notification in seven days, reported Live Law.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanulla also held that the National Conference is entitled to the plough symbol that was denied to it.

On August 5, the Ladakh administration had notified that polling for 26 seats of the 30-member council, which governs the Kargil district, will be held on September 10.

On August 9, on National Conference’s plea, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court directed the Ladakh administration to let candidates of the Farooq Abdullah-led party contest on their reserved plough symbol. The order was upheld by the High Court’s division bench on August 14.

Following this, the Ladakh administration filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court challenging the direction.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court dismissed the Union Territory’s petition and imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the administration.

“The request for allotment of the plough symbol by R1 [National Conference] was bonafide, legitimate and just, for the plain reason that in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir [which included the present Union Territory of Ladakh], it was a recognized state party...

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