NEW DELHI: Terming it “thoroughly misconceived” Delhi high court Monday dismissed a petition that sought directions to disqualify PM Narendra Modi from contesting elections for six years for allegedly seeking votes in the name of deities.
Justice Sachin Datta said the plea was “devoid of any merits” and pointed out that the petitioner had approached court while his plea before Election Commission is pending.
Petitioner Anand S Jondhale, a lawyer, had urged the court to act against Modi for allegedly seeking votes in the name of gods and places of worship, saying this amounted to violating the model code of conduct and committing an offence under the Indian Penal Code and Representation of the People Act.
But HC said his plea is thoroughly misconceived and listed multiple reasons, including that once the petitioner submitted a complaint to EC on April 10, there was no reason for him to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of HC. “The petitioner presupposes that there has been a violation of the model code of conduct. This presupposition is completely unjustified. It is not permissible for this court to direct EC to take a particular view on the petitioner complaint or any other complaint for that matter and issue peremptory directions as sought by the petitioner,” the court noted.
It underlined that EC is obliged to take an independent view on the complaint of the petitioner and if he is aggrieved by it, he is free to take the recourse of appropriate remedy available under the law. During the hearing, advocate Sidhant Kumar, representing EC, said the commission is receiving complaints every day and is processing these. Similarly, appropriate orders will be passed on the current plea. The petition said the PM delivered a speech in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, on April 9 where he “not only sought votes in the name of Hindu and Sikh deities and their places of worship but also made comments against opposition political parties as favouring Muslims.”
He sought to restrain the prime minister from seeking votes in the name of religious deities and places of worship.
The petitioner had HC to act against Modi for allegedly seeking votes in the name of gods and places of worship, saying this amounted to violating the MCC.
Justice Sachin Datta said the plea was “devoid of any merits” and pointed out that the petitioner had approached court while his plea before Election Commission is pending.
Petitioner Anand S Jondhale, a lawyer, had urged the court to act against Modi for allegedly seeking votes in the name of gods and places of worship, saying this amounted to violating the model code of conduct and committing an offence under the Indian Penal Code and Representation of the People Act.
But HC said his plea is thoroughly misconceived and listed multiple reasons, including that once the petitioner submitted a complaint to EC on April 10, there was no reason for him to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of HC. “The petitioner presupposes that there has been a violation of the model code of conduct. This presupposition is completely unjustified. It is not permissible for this court to direct EC to take a particular view on the petitioner complaint or any other complaint for that matter and issue peremptory directions as sought by the petitioner,” the court noted.
It underlined that EC is obliged to take an independent view on the complaint of the petitioner and if he is aggrieved by it, he is free to take the recourse of appropriate remedy available under the law. During the hearing, advocate Sidhant Kumar, representing EC, said the commission is receiving complaints every day and is processing these. Similarly, appropriate orders will be passed on the current plea. The petition said the PM delivered a speech in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, on April 9 where he “not only sought votes in the name of Hindu and Sikh deities and their places of worship but also made comments against opposition political parties as favouring Muslims.”
He sought to restrain the prime minister from seeking votes in the name of religious deities and places of worship.
The petitioner had HC to act against Modi for allegedly seeking votes in the name of gods and places of worship, saying this amounted to violating the MCC.
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