HC seeks UP poll panel response on code violation

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday sought a response from the Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission on the alleged violation of the model Code of Conduct ahead of elections to the urban local bodies in November 2017.

A bench of Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Abdul Moin passed the order after hearing PIL petitioner Pratap Chandra's counsel Nutan Thakur and the commission's counsel Aparajita Bansal.

The court was told that Para 3 (ch) of the 'Model Code of Conduct' issued by the poll panel says that 48 hours before the end of voting, there shall be no advertisement on TV, cable TV and electronic and print media.

However, candidates and political parties were found putting out advertisements till the date of election, which is a violation of the code of conduct, the petitioner said and rued that no action was taken on the complaint.

The court said that considering the facts of the case, it was appropriate to get a counter-affidavit from the state poll panel before the next hearing on March 23.

--IANS

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