Delhi High Court directs Election Commission ahead of voting, candidates not to use any derogatory material during election campaign.
High Court directs Election Commission : The Delhi High Court has directed the Election Commission to ensure that political parties and their candidates do not use any derogatory material during the election campaign.
A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela gave the direction on the PIL. The bench disposed of the petition taking cognisance of the action proposed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on the complaint of the petitioners.
The court said that the state election officer, the chief election officer and the district election officer are fully empowered and are bound to scrutinise such messages and advertising content is circulated by political parties and their candidates.
Appropriate action will be taken
Based on the investigation report to be submitted by the Chief Electoral Officer, appropriate action will be taken by the ECI as required by law or any other authority under the law.
The environment is not to be allowed to deteriorate
On the Assembly elections, the bench said that the primary duty of the Election Commission under Article 324 of the Constitution is to ensure free and fair elections. Therefore, it is the duty of the ECI to take proactive steps to prevent the spread of messages that are unlikely to worsen the environment.
On the request for adjournment of the election, the court said that such a request cannot be entertained in the midst of the elections as no such ground is available in the PIL.
The report of the Chief Electoral Officer will be received
Advocate Siddhanth Kumar, appearing for the Election Commission, argued that the Commission took cognisance of the petitioners’ complaint and directed the Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi to investigate the allegations and submit a report. He said the ECI has issued guidelines that make it mandatory to certify political advertisements, including voice time. He said that appropriate action will be taken on receipt of the report of the Chief Electoral Officer.
A public interest litigation was filed on behalf of three prosecutors, seeking action against those who spread the bleable and malicious content.
Advocates Dhron Dewan, Kashish Dhawan and Arshia Jain, who appeared in person, claimed that a message was transmitted through the period of voice that free gifts given to voters would be withdrawn if a particular political party was not voted.
