Can India's Opposition alliance be called INDIA? Court wants parties to respond in a week

A bench comprising Justice Manmeet PS Arora and Acting Chief Justice Manmohan ordered that the responses to the public interest lawsuit, which claimed that the parties were taking "undue advantage in the name of our country" by utilizing the INDIA acronym, be filed within a week

Can India's Opposition alliance be called INDIA? Court wants parties to respond in a week
The high court stated that every effort will be taken to hear the petition and make a decision on April 10 after declining to move up the hearing date Image Courtesy Agencies

On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court gave the Center and a number of opposition parties one more chance to reply to a petition asking them to stop using the abbreviation INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance).

A bench comprising Justice Manmeet PS Arora and Acting Chief Justice Manmohan ordered that the responses to the public interest lawsuit, which claimed that the parties were taking “undue advantage in the name of our country” by utilizing the INDIA acronym, be filed within a week.

The high court stated that every effort will be taken to hear the petition and make a decision on April 10 after declining to move up the hearing date.

“The contesting respondents are given the last and final opportunity to file their replies within a week,” the bench said.

The petitioner, Girish Bharadwaj, applied to the court for an early hearing of the case, citing that it had been pending since August 2023, that the pleadings were incomplete, and that the Election Commission had already issued the election timetable.