Supreme Court Agrees For Early Listing Of Mamata Banerjee’s Plea Against ECI's Order Barring Use Of AITC Name And Symbol By Both Factions
Sibal mentioned the petition before Chief Justice Surya Kant, challenging the ECI's decision to freeze the Trinamool Congress name and symbol ahead of upcoming bye-elections.
A writ petition has been filed before the Supreme Court by former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, challenging the Election Commission of India's (ECI) order freezing the name "All India Trinamool Congress" and its reserved "Flowers & Grass" symbol and barring both rival factions of the All India Trinamool Congress from using the party name and symbol for upcoming bye-elections.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the writ petition before the Court.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana agreed to list the matter at the earliest.
"They issue a notification and in the middle of notification, they freeze the symbol. What is going on ? We want urgent listing," Sibal submitted.
Recognizing that time was inadequate to finalize proceedings under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order before ongoing bye-elections, the Commission directed both factions to submit three preferred group names and free symbols for temporary allocation.
There are two rival groups in All India Trinamool Congress, one led by Mamata Banerjee and the other led by Arup Roy, and each group claimed to be the party.
All India Trinamool Congress has a logo with the symbol “Flowers & Grass” allotted as its reserved symbol in the said states under the provisions of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
An internal rift broke out over the leadership and operational management of the recognized political party, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), when Mamata Banerjee informed the Election Commission of India (ECI) on June 23, 2026, that an AITC National Working Committee (NWC) meeting took place on June 20, 2026, to announce office bearers.
Simultaneously, Ritabrata Banerjee also submitted a petition contending that the NWC’s mandate had expired on February 11, 2025, making all following actions invalid from the outset, and noted that a Special Session assembled on June 22, 2026, selected Arup Roy as the NWC Chairperson.
Cause Title: Mamata Banerjee v. Election Commission of India & Ors. [Diary No. 58005/2026]