The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear Congress MP Sushmita Dev’s plea seeking direction to the Election Commission to take action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah for alleged poll code violations, PTI reported.
The top court asked Dev to file a fresh plea as the Election Commission has already taken decisions on complaints of violations against Modi and Shah since the time the plea was filed. The court said it cannot examine the merits of the poll body’s orders clearing the BJP leaders as the petition filed by Dev was against the inaction of the Election Commission, reported Live Law.
“We do not see how merits of orders of Election Commission can be challenged by way of additional affidavit,” the Supreme Court said, according to Bar and Bench. “There should be a specific challenge to the same.”
Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Election Commission, told the court that the poll panel has decided on 11 complaints against Modi and Shah. Dwivedi pointed out that these orders have not been challenged, Bar and Bench reported. Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the petitioner, claimed that the Election Commission had passed the orders without giving any reason for the same.
Singhvi also told the court about Modi’s recent remark on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, calling him a corrupt person. The court, however, said the scope of the petition cannot be expanded. “The petition has become infructuous as the ECI [Election Commission of India] has taken decision on the complaints,” Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said.
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 2, it had directed the poll panel to decide on all the complaints by May 6.
On Tuesday, Dev had filed an additional affidavit in the Supreme Court in which she alleged the Election Commission was discriminatory. Dev said the poll body has “failed to appreciate” that the alleged “hate speeches” of the two BJP leaders are corrupt practices that “promote enmity and disharmony on religious grounds”.
The Election Commission has cleared Modi and Amit Shah of several allegations of Model Code of Conduct violations since the election process began – most of them after Dev filed her plea.
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