Delhi HC dismisses plea seeking action by EC against PM Modi for alleged hate speech

Referring to its April 29 decision in another plea seeking “disqualification” of the PM from elections for six years claiming that he delivered a speech allegedly seeking votes in the “name of god and place of worship”, the HC said, “This Court has observed while disposing of (the previous writ petition) that any such pre-supposition is misconceived in as much as it is for the Election Commission of India to take an independent view in this regard”.

Justice Datta thereafter said that the present petition “itself disclosed” that the petitioners had made a representation to the ECI, on April 24 followed by a reminder on May 3.

“The petitioners have filed the present petition even though the aforesaid representation made to the ECI is stated to be under consideration,” the order states.

The counsel appearing for the ECI, Suruchi Suri said that a “detailed advisory was issued by the ECI to political parties on 01.03.2024” before the lok sabha elections were announced on March 16.

“It is further pointed out that a notice dated 25.04.2024 has also been issued by ECI, and that further appropriate action/steps shall be taken, if necessary, upon receipt of the reply to the said notice. As such, at this stage, the present petition is wholly misconceived. In the circumstances, this Court finds no merit whatsoever in the present petition, and the same is accordingly dismissed,” the HC order states.

During the hearing, advocate Nizam Pasha who appeared for the petitioners said: “The one thing that the rule of law demands is that there should be the same treatment for similarly placed individuals”. Pasha further submitted that the ECI had passed orders against speakers of other political parties, but it was “adopting a different standard for one individual versus everybody else”.

Meanwhile, Justice Datta orally said: “I cannot micromanage the ECI on how they will deal with it. They (ECI) are in the middle of dealing with it. A statement is being made that they expect to receive a letter issued. It is a constitutional body. We can’t presume they (ECI) won’t do anything.”

To this Pasha argued,”The notice (of April 25) mentions no speech or the individual’s name…They have not even issued show cause notice to the individual concerned”.

Meanwhile Suri said that “action will be taken if required” and that it should be left to the poll body to deal with the issue.

The plea submitted that while the ECI had taken action during the ongoing elections against campaigners making speeches in violation of the MCC “including imposition of bans from further campaigning and registration of FIRs”, no such action has been forthcoming against PM Modi and other persons “making hate speeches during the ongoing election campaign”.

It stated that on May 1, the ECI had banned Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) President K Chandrashekar Rao from campaigning for violation of the MCC in his election speeches, and also issued “individual notices for the violation of MCC” to BJP West Bengal MP Dilip Ghosh, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi, and Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala.

“However, no such action has been taken against Shri Modi and other persons from the Bharatiya Janata Party for their hate speeches, despite complaints by the petitioner and various other persons, demonstrating the bias in the functioning of respondent (ECI) in favour of the ruling party,” states the plea.

The plea further states that the inaction on the ECI’s part is “manifestly arbitrary, malafide, and impermissible”. It sought a direction to the ECI to take immediate action including “filing FIRs under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code to protect and promote communal harmony and peace, against candidates delivering communally divisive hate speeches in violation of MCC”.