The Congress on Monday challenged in the Supreme Court the Election Commission’s decision to clear Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah on several allegations of Model Code of Conduct violations.

“Identical words were used by other persons and they have been stopped,” Congress leader and advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was appearing for the petitioner, MP Sushmita Dev, told the court, according to Bar and Bench. “These two persons have not been stopped.”

Singhvi added: “Five of the six decisions have dissent. It has not been supplied to us. Reasons have also not been given.” He said the court must consider laying down guidelines as it will help in future elections.

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A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked Dev to place on record the Election Commission’s orders. The court will now hear the case on Wednesday.

Sushmita Dev, the All India Mahila Congress president, had moved the petition on April 29 seeking expeditious action by the poll panel. She alleged that Modi and Shah had indulged in hate speech and had repeatedly used the armed forces for “political propaganda”. The next day, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Election Commission on the petition. On May 6, it had directed the poll panel to decide on all the complaints.

The Election Commission has cleared Modi and Amit Shah of several allegations of Model Code of Conduct violations since the election process began.

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