The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to decide within three months the dispute over the original name and election symbol of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) between the factions led by Mamata Banerjee and Ritabrata Banerjee.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana directed both sides to complete their pleadings within four weeks by filing their affidavits and counter-affidavits.

The ECI will then have three months to decide the dispute under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.

The directions effectively require the dispute to be resolved within four months.

The Court was hearing a writ petition filed by former West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress founder Mamata Banerjee challenging the ECI's September 17 interim order freezing the original AITC name and its 'Flowers & Grass' election symbol amid the dispute between the rival factions.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mamata Banerjee, had told the Court on September 24 that the interim arrangement was not being challenged and that the petitioner was seeking an expeditious decision on the main dispute.

The Court had subsequently asked the ECI how much time it would require to decide the matter.

Appearing for the ECI, Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu submitted that symbol disputes could take considerable time as affidavits from party workers could run into lakhs. Justice Bagchi suggested that the Commission could make use of AI tools to process the material and complete the exercise within three months, noting that three months had already passed since the dispute was placed before the poll body.

Naidu requested that any timeline fixed by the Court should begin from the date on which the parties file their affidavits. He also placed before the Court the timelines followed by the ECI in previous symbol disputes.

Sibal and Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandhopadhyay submitted that the Mamata Banerjee faction had filed its responses in July, while the rival faction was yet to file its counter-responses.

Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Neeraj Kishan Kaul appeared for the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction.

The petition was filed on September 18, a day after the ECI passed its interim order recognising rival claims over the AITC. The Commission had found two competing groups, one led by Mamata Banerjee and the other by Ritabrata Banerjee, each claiming to represent the Trinamool Congress.

As an interim arrangement, the ECI allotted the name “Mamata All India Trinamool Congress” and the 'Football Player' symbol to the Mamata Banerjee-led faction. The Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction was allotted the name “Democratic Trinamool Congress” and the 'Envelope' symbol.

The interim arrangement will apply to the upcoming bye-elections, including those in Nandigram and Rejinagar scheduled for October 6. The ECI has clarified that the temporary allocation of names and symbols does not amount to a final decision on the rival claims over the original party name and symbol.

The substantive dispute will be decided separately by the ECI under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.

Case: Mamata Banerjee v. Election Commission of India | Diary No. 58005/2026