Ganderbal: National Conference (NC) and it’s unit in Kargil district of Ladakh have welcomed the Supreme Court (SC) verdict wherein the apex court held that NC was entitled to the 'plough' symbol.
The court passed this ruling dismissing the petition filed by the Ladakh administration opposing the allotment of 'plough' symbol to NC for the 5th general elections of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil.
Reacting to the SC verdict, NC Vice President Omar Abdullah said that they got the verdict, which they wanted and deserved.
“We have got the verdict we wanted and deserved. Our symbol, the plough, was given to us by the Supreme Court earlier this morning. The BJP, ably assisted by a totally biased Ladakh administration, did everything possible to deny us our rights. The court saw through this and penalised them with Rs 1 lakh in costs imposed on the administration. Congratulations to NC Kargil! And a huge thank you to @ShariqJReyaz for the amazing job he did arguing this in front of the HC and SC," Omar Abdullah wrote on X.
Meanwhile, NC District President Kargil Hanifa Jan said that they welcome the SC verdict and that this was a victory for the party as well as the people of Ladakh.
"We expected the decision in our favour as the High Court had already passed its judgment regarding the allotment of our symbol,” Jan told Greater Kashmir.
He said this was a victory for the people of Ladakh who believe in democracy.
Jan said that their party was in coalition with the Congress to make a strong hill council.
“We are grateful to our party leadership including Omar Abdullah, Qamar Ali Akhoon, and others who with the help of legal experts ensured justice,” Jan said. Senior NC leader from Ladakh, Qamar Ali Akhoon said that they were happy with the SC verdict.
“We are grateful to the SC and our legal experts who dismissed the petition filed by the Ladakh administration seeking to restrain NC from fighting the local body elections in Kargil on its registered ‘plough’ symbol,” he said.
Akhoon said that they expressed gratitude to the party leadership particularly NC Vice President Omar Abdullah for constant support and coordination.
The NC approached the J&K and Ladakh High Court after the election authority of Ladakh refused to grant the party its symbol for the polls scheduled for September 10.
The Ladakh administration argued that the election authority of the Union Territory was not a competent body to grant symbols to parties.
However, the NC pleaded before the HC that the same authority “granted the Aam Aadmi Party its symbol for the 2010 polls in Leh”.
Later the Ladakh administration filed a petition in SC.
