In a major move, we see that the Kerala High Court in a most learned, laudable, landmark, logical and latest judgment titled Kerala Congress (Skariah Thomas) v The Chief Electoral Officer & Secretary Election & anr and connected cases in W.P.(C).Nos.42377,42726,42780 & 42858 of 2025 that was pronounced as recently as on November 20, 2025 has granted interim relief to Kerala Congress and several other political parties also by staying the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) order that had removed them from the list of Registered Political Parties and also added them to the list of Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (Delisted RUPPs). It must be noted that the Single Judge Bench comprising of Hon’ble Mr Justice VG Arun pointed out that Section 29A does not contain any provision empowering the ECI to cancel or delist a registered political party and underscored on the gist of the Apex Court’s judgment in Indian National Congress (I) v Institute of Social Welfare and Others (2002) 5 SCC 685, which had explicitly held that the Election Commission did not have the authority to deregister a party except in limited circumstances such as fraud, forgery, or violation of the constitutional undertaking mandated under Section 29A(5). We thus also see that the Kerala High Court granted interim stay on the Election Commission’s delisting order and so also allowed the parties to contest in the upcoming local body elections. Very rightly so!
At the very outset, this robust, remarkable, rational and recent judgment authored by the Single Judge Bench comprising of Hon’ble Mr Justice VG Arun of Kerala High Court sets the ball in motion by first and foremost putting forth in para 1 that, “The petitioners are political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) and has been in existence for the past few years. The petitioners are aggrieved by the order No.F.No.56/Delisting/2025/PPS-III issued by the Election Commission of India (hereinafter referred to as the ‘ECI’ for short) removing them from the list of Registered Political Parties and marking them as “DELISTED RUPPs” in the register of Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (‘RUPP’ for short)
maintained by the ECI.”
Do note, the Bench notes in para 9 that, “As per Section 2(f) of the Act,“political party” means an association or a body of individual citizens of India registered with the Election Commission as a political party under Section 29A. The procedure for registration of such an association of individuals as a political party is detailed in Section 29A extracted hereunder;
“29A. Registration with the Election Commission of associations and bodies as political parties.– (1) Any association or body of individual citizens of India calling itself a political party and intending to avail itself of the provisions of this Part shall make an application to the Election Commission for its registration as a political party for the purposes of this Act.
(2) Every such application shall be made,-
(a) if the association or body is in existence at the commencement of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 1988 (1 of 1989), within sixty days next following such commencement;
(b) if the association or body is formed after such commencement, within thirty days next following the date of its formation.
(3) Every application under sub-section (1) shall be signed by the chief executive officer of the association or body (whether such chief executive officer is known as Secretary or by any other designation) and presented to the Secretary to the Commission or sent to such Secretary by registered post.
(4) Every such application shall contain the following particulars, namely:–
(a) the name of the association or body;
(b) the State in which its head office is situate;
(c) the address to which letters and other communications meant for it should be sent;
(d) the names of its president, secretary, treasurer and other office-bearers;
(e) the numerical strength of its members, and if there are categories of its members, the numerical strength in each category;
(f) whether it has any local units; if so, at what levels;
(g) whether it is represented by any member or members in either House of Parliament or of any State Legislature; if so, the number of such member or members.
(5) The application under sub-section (1) shall be accompanied by a copy of the memorandum or rules and regulations of the association or body, by whatever name called, and such memorandum or rules and regulations shall contain a specific provision that the association or body shall bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, and to the principles of socialism, secularism and democracy, and would uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
(6) The Commission may call for such other particulars as it may deem fit from the association or body.
(7) After considering all the particulars as aforesaid in its possession and any other necessary and relevant factors and after giving the representatives of the association or body reasonable opportunity of being heard, the Commission shall decide either to register the association or body as a political party for the purposes of this Part, or not so to register it; and the Commission shall communicate its decision to the association or body:
Provided that no association or body shall be registered as a political party under this sub-section unless the memorandum or rules and regulations of such association or body conform to the provisions of sub-section (5).
(8) The decision of the Commission shall be final.
(9) After an association or body has been registered as a political party as aforesaid, any change in its name, head office, office-bearers, address or in any other material matters shall be communicated to the Commission without delay.””
Briefly stated, the Bench observes in para 10 that, “A close scrutiny of the provision shows that sub-section (4) stipulates the particulars that should be contained in an application for registration of a political party. Sub-section (6) empowers the Commission to call for such other particulars as it deems fit from the applicant. As per sub-section (7), after considering all the particulars thus provided and the relevant factors, the Commission shall either register or refuse to register a political party. No provision for cancellation of registration is provided in Section 29A. The absence of such a provision was taken into consideration by the Apex Court in Indian National Congress (I) (supra), paragraphs 40 and 41 of the judgment being relevant.”
Be it noted, the Bench notes in para 11 that, “Although learned counsel for the ECI contended that the exceptions culled out in sub-paragraph 3 of paragraph 41 above would apply to the petitioners in view of their undertaking given at the time of registration and the subsequent breach which amounts to constructive fraud, the petitioners assert that the parties have not given any undertaking or acknowledged that, failure to contest in the elections for six years can result in their registration being cancelled.”
It is also worth noting that the Bench then notes in para 12 that, “The reliance placed by the ECI on the Symbols Order to trace its power for cancellation of registration also appears to be prima facie unsustainable, the objective of the Symbols Order being to provide for specification, reservation, choice and allotment of symbols at elections in Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies, for the recognition of the political parties in relation thereto and for matters connected therewith. No doubt, as held by the Apex Court, the Election Commission of India is having plenary powers, but the larger question is whether such power is boundless and beyond the purview of judicial review.”
Most significantly, the Bench then encapsulates in para 13 what constitutes the cornerstone of this notable judgment postulating precisely that, “The contention of the petitioners that the impugned order was passed without affording proper opportunity of hearing and the order is passed by an authority, other than the one which had conducted the enquiry also require consideration. Yet another pertinent aspect is that the election to the local bodies of the State has been announced and the petitioners want to field their candidates in the election. Here, the submission made on behalf of the ECI that the Commission has no objection in the petitioners contesting the election in spite of the order under challenge assumes relevance. Taking the above factor also into consideration, I find the petitioners to be entitled for the following interim order.”
Finally, the Bench then draws the curtains of this notable judgment and concludes by directing and holding in para 14 that, “There shall be an interim stay of operation of Order No.F.No.56/Delisting/2025/PPS-III issued by the Election Commission of India, to the extent the petitioners are taken off from the list of Registered Political Parties and marked as ‘DELISTED RUPPs’, so as to enable the candidates of the petitioners to contest in the ongoing local bodies election, in the symbols allotted to the parties by the State Election Commission, if those symbols have not already been allotted to other parties.
Post on 05.01.2026.”
Sanjeev Sirohi