Plea In Supreme Court Against Ferocious Appearance of National Emblem Lions Atop New Parliament: Seeks Correction of National Emblem
(Judicial Quest News Network)
A plea has been filed before the Supreme Court on Friday against the state Emblem of Ashokan lions installed atop the new parliament building in the central vista.
The plea, moved by two Advocates Aldanish Rein and Ramesh Kumar Mishra, urged the top court to issuea direction to the Central government to correct the state emblem India, recently installed at the top of the Central Vistas project at New Delhi, which is going to house the Parliament House and Central Secretariat, in accordance with the state Emblem of India (Prohibition of Importer Use) Act,2005.
The petitioners submit that installed emblem violates the decription and design of State Emblem.
The plea further avers that the schedule of the State Emblem Act defines Emblem as “Emblem means the State Emblem of India as described and specified in the schedule to be used as official seal of the government”
It is submitted that the newly installed State emblem of India at the top of Central Vista project as a visible difference in the design of lions which depicts a changed composure of the lions than that of the symbol preserved in the Sarnath Museum. The lions of the newly installed emblem appear to be ferocious and aggressive with their mouth open and canine visible, while the lions preserved in Museum are calm and composed.
On July,11, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the National Emblem. The majestic 6.5 meters tall cast of the National Emblem is made of bronze and weighs around 9,500 kg.
The petition relies on the Constitutional framework. The core challenge of the petition is that the change in the design of the State emblem violates its sanctity; is manifestly arbitrary; and would not pass muster of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. It also argues that the Act of the Union Government to impinge upon the emblem without following due process is in derogation of Article 21, which envisaged the right to one’s national pride and constitutional faith.
On 26-01-1956, the State National Emblem was adopted as a symbol and seal of the newly formed Republic of India. The Statute came into existence in 2005.It described the State Emblem of India as an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capitol of Ashoka which preserved in the Sarnath Mesum.
