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

New Delhi [India], September 6 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a plea by the Ladakh administration opposing the allotment of 'plough' symbol to the National Conference for the upcoming Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) elections and imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on it. 
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah also set aside the notification for the LAHDC polls and directed the Ladakh administration to issue a fresh notification within seven days.
The apex court rejected the Union Territory of Ladakh administration plea challenging the Jammu and Kashmir High Court order and ruled in favour of the National Conference for the allotment of the 'plough' symbol.
Last week, the court reserved the order after concluding the submission by all the parties.
The Union Territory of Ladakh administration had approached the Supreme Court with an appeal against the decision of the J&K High Court. HC directed the UT to notify the allotment of the 'plough' symbol to the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference for the upcoming Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council elections.
Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, who appeared before the court on behalf of the UT, argued that JKNC was not recognized as a state party in Ladakh and that the party cannot claim vested rights over the reserved symbol.
The National Conference submitted before the High Court that being the recognized state political party under Section 29 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, they are entitled to contest the upcoming general election of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) on their allotted election symbol, 'plough'.