SC irked over EC for not taking quick action against politicians in cases of hate speeches

The Supreme Court Monday expressed displeasure over the Election Commission not taking quick action against politicians for communal and hate speeches during the Lok Sabha campaigning and decided to examine the ambit of its power following submission that it was "toothless".

The top court, which got irked after not getting specific answers to its queries on the powers of the poll panel to deal with errant leaders spewing venom, even threatened to ensure the presence of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) before it within half-an-hour.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took upon the cases of alleged communal speeches of BSP supremo Mayawati and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and asked about the actions taken so far against them while deciding to examine the statutory powers of poll panel to deal with the violation of model code of conduct (MCC).

"So what about Mayawati. She was supposed to reply to you (poll panel) by April 12. She has not replied till today. What does the law permit you to do in such cases. Answer us," said the bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.

The EC counsel said: "The power of the EC in this behalf is very limited. We can issue notice and seek reply but we cannot de-recognise a party or disqualify a candidate...we can only issue advisories and in case of a repeat offence, register a complaint."
Reacting sharply, the bench said, "So you are basically saying you are toothless and powerless against hate speeches."
The bench said: "It would like to examine whether the power of the EC was circumscribed to deal with the violations of the MCC by leaders through alleged hate speeches."