SC Scraps EC Verdict That Freezed RPP’s Election Symbol

The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Election Commission (EC) to freeze the election symbol of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) led by Pashupati Shumsher Rana on Tuesday.

A division bench of Justices Anup Raj Sharma and Ram Kumar Prasad Shah in its verdict said that the decision of the EC be nullified as the election symbol ‘Plough’ belonged to the Rana-led RPP.

Rana had moved the apex court in January 2006, challenging the EC’s decision to freeze the election symbol after the RPP and its breakaway faction led by Kamal Thapa registered their claims over the ‘Plough’. Rana’s party had been accusing the EC of acting on the pressure of Thapa who was the Home Minister and a key functionary of the royal regime at that time.

Backed by some RPP members, Thapa went on to form his own party after he joined the royal government in 2005 claiming that his party to be the genuine RPP