New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a petition seeking direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take action against the alleged hate speeches made by BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the ongoing general election.
The petition was filed by one Dr. Emani Anantha Satyanarayana Sarma and others. A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Satish Chandra Sharma said that the court is not keen to issue any direction as sought in the petition in relation with the ECI.
Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, representing the petitioners, vehemently argued that the poll body is not doing its job properly. “We are not inclined to interfere. We cannot issue such directions under Article 32….", said the bench.
The counsel argued that the court may then at least clarify that only "at this stage" it was not entertaining the plea. The bench, while declining to entertain the plea, orally observed that worse things will again happen when the next election comes up.
The plea highlighted the speeches delivered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur, along with the content posted by the BJP on its social media handles.
The same two-judge bench of the apex court refused to entertain another plea seeking a direction to the ECI to disqualify Prime Minister Narendra Modi from elections for six years under Representation of People Act.
The plea filed by one Fatima, filed through advocate Sunil Kumar Agarwal, also sought a direction to the ECI to take action against the PM as per the model code of conduct, mentioned in the Compendium of Instruction Volume-III under Rules-General Conduct (1 and 3) immediately.
During the brief hearing, the bench asked the petitioner to approach the relevant authorities with the grievance. "Have you approached the authorities? For writ of mandamus you must approach the authorities first," said the bench. The petitioner urged the bench to allow the plea to be withdrawn. "Dismissed as withdrawn….," said the bench.
The plea contended that on April 21, 2024, the PM, as a part of poll campaign for Lok Sabha Election 2024, addressed a public rally of voters at Banswara, Rajasthan.
"The Respondent No.2 (PM) made statements which are clearly aimed at creating enmity between groups. The speech has been uploaded by the official handle of Narendra Modi in the public domain….," said the plea.
The plea said that various organisations and many individuals have filed the complaints with the ECI but the poll body has failed to take any effective action against the PM, so as to restrain him from seeking the votes in the name of religious deities and places of worship.
"The Petitioner submits that the respondent No.2 had made the speech on April 21, 2024 at Banswara, Rajasthan, and had said 'should your hard-earned money be given to those with more children?' This he was referring to Muslims”, the plea contended.
