 "Calcutta High Court")
Amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, the Calcutta High Court on Monday pulled up the Election Commission of India (ECI) for its inaction regarding Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) complaints against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) alleged slanderous ads, which violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), according to a report by Bar and Bench.
The court also prohibited the BJP from publishing any derogatory advertisements against the TMC until further notice.
Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya, presiding over a single bench, noted that the advertisements in question breached both the MCC and the Press Council of India guidelines. He pointed out the ECI’s failure to act promptly, necessitating the court’s intervention.
“The ECI has grossly failed to address the complaints of the TMC in due time. This Court is surprised that resolution of the complaints after the conclusion of elections is nothing to the court and as such in due failure on part of the ECI in due time this court is constrained to pass an injunction order,” Justice Bhattacharya said.
Legal blow to BJP’s election ads
The court found the BJP’s advertisements during the ‘silence period’ to be in violation of the MCC, impacting the rights of both the TMC and citizens to fair elections.
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The court deemed the allegations and publications against the TMC as overtly derogatory and intended to insult rivals and launch personal attacks, thereby contradicting the MCC and infringing upon the rights of the petitioners and Indian citizens to a free and fair electoral process.
“The allegations and publications made against TMC are outright derogatory and definitely intended at insulting the rivals and levelling personal attacks. Hence, the said Ads being directly contradictory to the MCC as well as being violative of the rights of the Petitioner and all citizens of India to free, fair and untainted election process. The BJP, thus ought to be restrained from further publishing such Ads until further orders,” the court said.
The petitioners’ counsel had argued that the advertisements were slanderous and directly contravened the MCC, which prohibits political campaigns based on caste, creed, or religion.
ECI inaction despite complaint
Despite lodging a complaint with the ECI, no action was taken until the filing of the writ petition, the report said. According to the petitioners, these advertisements infringed on their right to a free and fair election and violated the electorate’s rights.
The ECI’s counsel contended that the matter was under judicial consideration and that a court ruling could impact ongoing proceedings. They suggested that the appropriate remedy for the petitioners was an election petition, rather than an injunction at this stage.
Meanwhile, the counsel representing the newspaper responsible for publishing the ads argued that similar advertisements were featured in other newspapers not named in the petition, raising doubts about the petition's validity due to the omission of essential parties, reported CNBC TV18. They asserted that the newspaper was merely sustaining its revenue through these advertisements and had not violated any laws.
