The Delhi High Court today stated that it cannot micromanage the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) which is a constitutional body.
The observation was made by Justice Sachin Datta in response to a petition seeking registration of a first information report (FIR) against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for alleged communal speeches during the Lok Sabha elections campaign.
Questioning who will decide that there has been a violation of the model code of conduct, the bench added that the ECI is a constitutional body and they cannot micromanage it.
Appearing for the petitioners, Advocate Nizam Pasha argued that the ECI’s actions cannot depend on who the person making the hate speeches is and the response has to be uniform.
Meanwhile, Advocate Suruchi Suri appearing for the ECI, contended that the commission has issued notice on the complaints received by it and a reply is expected from the ruling party by May 15 after which action will be taken as per law.
Subsequently, the High Court proceeded to list the case for further hearing on Monday, May 13 and asked Pasha to bring the relevant material on record. The petition has been filed by Shaheen Abdulla, Amitabha Pande and Deb Mukharji. The plea referred to the Prime Minister’s speech at Banswara, Rajasthan on April 21 where he said that Congress will take the wealth of people and distribute it to those who have more children and to infiltrators.
The petition also mentioned Modi’s speech at Sagar, Madhya Pradesh on April 24 where he alleged that the Congress party had given reservation based on religion. The plea added that despite a large number of complaints by several citizens, the ECI failed in taking any effective action.
The plea underscored that the inaction on the part of the ECI is manifestly arbitrary, malafide, impermissible and constitutes a violation of its constitutional duty. It added that the inaction amounts to rendering the MCC futile, the very purpose of which is to ensure that communal harmony and the spirit of brotherhood is not given a go-by by candidates to secure victory in the elections.
Furthermore, it contended that the omissions and commissions by ECI are not only in complete and direct violation of Articles 14, 21 and 324 of the Constitution of India but are also impeding free, fair and unbiased General Elections.
It highlighted that even though the ECI has issued notices to several leaders like K Chandrasekhar Rao, Atishi, Dilip Ghosh and others, no such action has been taken against PM Modi and even the notice issued with regard to his speech was to the BJP President JP Nadda. The plea also refers to speeches by BJP President JP Nadda and Union Minister Anurag Thakur and sought action against all the leaders who have made communal speeches.