SC seeks EC response on MCC violations

NEW DELHI, Apr 30: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the Election Commission’s (EC) response on a plea by a Congress MP alleging model code of conduct (MCC) violations by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah over their alleged hate speeches and using armed forces for “political propaganda.”
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it would hear on Thursday the plea of Sushmita Dev, Congress Lok Sabha MP from Silchar in Assam and President of the All India Mahila Congress, alleging inaction by the EC in deciding complaints against Modi and Shah.
The bench, also comprising Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph, made clear that it would be open to the EC passing “necessary/appropriate orders on the representation(s) of the petitioner (Dev).”
There have been reports that the poll panel officials would sit on Tuesday to decide complaints of violations of the MCC by various leaders, including the prime minister, the BJP chief and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, during campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections.
Dev has alleged that “inaction” by the EC on complaints against top BJP leaders was “a sign of invidious discrimination” as also “arbitrary, capricious and impermissible” as it was destructive of the integrity of electoral process.
The plea listed out several alleged instances of MCC violations by Modi and Shah in their meetings, and referred to as the first violation the speech of Modi at a rally at Wardha, Maharashtra, on 1 April where he had allegedly raised the issue of “bhagva aatankwad (saffron terror).” (PTI)