‘Can’t micromanage ECI’: Delhi HC rejects plea that sought action against PM Modi

The Election Commission told the high court that BJP chief JP Nadda, who was issued notice on April 15, was expected to reply to the notice by May 15

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Monday rejected a petition that sought action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly delivering communally divisive speeches in violation of the model code of conduct during the Lok Sabha election campaign, holding that the court could not micromanage the Election Commission of India (ECI) which was yet to conclude proceedings in the case.

The petition complained that ECI failed to take any effective action for violation of the code of conduct (HT File Photo)

“I cannot micromanage the ECI as to how they deal with the situation. They (ECI) have not yet concluded the proceedings. They (ECI) are in the middle of dealing with it.. a statement is being made and they will take further action.. We cannot presume that they will not do what they..” a bench of justice Sachin Datta told lawyer Nizam Pasha who appeared for the three petitioners, Shaheen Abdulla, Amitabh Pande and Deb Mukherjee.

The petition complained that ECI failed to take any effective action for violation of the code of conduct despite many complaints against PM Modi by several persons including Abdullah.

On April 25, the ECI issued a notice to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda following a speech by PM Modi at an election rally in Rajasthan on on April 21 that the Congress intended to redistribute public wealth to Muslims. Opposition leaders targeted Modi over the comments. Kharge called the remarks “hate speech”, and said that Modi had “lowered the dignity of political discourse”.

The petition said the ECI hadn’t even issued notice to PM Modi but the BJP president for the alleged hate speech and that such inaction impeded free and fair polls.

The petitioners said the election watchdog was only acting against leaders of other political parties for hate speeches and had gagged former Telangana chief minister and BRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao for 48 hours earlier this month.

Lawyer Suruchi Suri, appeariing for ECI, said the poll panel issued notice to the BJP president on April 25 and expected a reply from the ruling party by May 15. She asserted that ECI will after receipt of the reply act according to the law and recalled the ECI advisory to all parties warning them of stern action for direct and indirect poll code violations.

The bench underlined that the ECI had acted on the complaints and was yet to take a final decision.

“This court is of the view that at this stage, the petition is misconceived. ECI can take an independent view on the complaint of the petitioner in accordance with the law. There is no merit in the petition. The same is accordingly dismissed,” justice Datta said.

The high court also dismissed a plea last month that sought PM Modi’s disqualification for six years for allegedly seeking votes in the name of “god and place of worship” during his speech at Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, holding that the petition was “thoroughly misconceived” since the court was approached before the ECI decided the case.