[dropcap]A[/dropcap] day after the Supreme Court pulled up the Election Commission of India (EC) over its inaction against the violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by political leaders making hate speeches on grounds of religion, caste etc, and the subsequent decision of the EC banning four politicians – Yogi Adityanath, Mayawati, Azam Khan and Maneka Gandhi – from campaigning, the Supreme Court today expressed satisfaction with the steps taken by the EC and said no further orders were required to be passed at this stage.
“The Election Commission seems to have woken up to its powers”, CJI Ranjan Gogoi remarked.
The Supreme Court also refused to entertain an application filed by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader, Mayawati, challenging the decision of the EC banning her from campaigning for 48 hours. The court asked her counsel, Senior Advocate, Dushyant Dave, to file a separate petition if she was aggrieved with the decision of the EC.
Background
The EC had yesterday barred Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan from using social media and holding public meetings, road shows and media interviews for 72 hours starting from 06:00 am on April 16, 2019. BSP Chief Mayawati and Union Minister Maneka Gandhi had been barred from campaigning for 48 hours.
Yesterday, the EC had submitted in the Supreme Court that its powers for MCC violations covering hate speeches on grounds of religion, caste etc. were limited to issuing notice and upon consideration of replies, issuing advisories. Only in the case of repeated violation of the advisories, did the Election Commission have the power to file an FIR with the police for initiation of criminal proceedings. Beyond that, the EC claimed, it had no power to deal with instances of speeches that polarized classes of citizens or sought votes from any person on grounds of religion, caste etc.
The Court was scheduled to examine the scope of the EC’s power today. However, with the commission cracking down on political leaders for MCC violations, a satisfied Court today refused to go into the issue.
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