New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission to decide on remaining nine Congress complaints against Prime Minister Modi and BJP President Amit Shah on the model code of conduct violation before the next hearing on Monday.
Not appreciating the fact that EC had disposed of only two complaints in the last two days after an earlier hearing, the Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said: “The remaining representations of the petitioners shall be decided by the Election Commission before we hear the matter again on Monday (May 6).”
The court was told by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Congress MP Sushmita Dev that the Congress had filed 11 complaints against the duo. He urged the Court to direct the electoral body to expedite its decision on the remaining complaints. Two other judges on the Bench were Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.
So far, the Election Commission has given a clean chit to Modi for his speeches at Latur and Wardha on seeking votes in the name of Balakot airstrike heroes and soldiers killed in the Pulwama terror attack and Rahul Gandhi choosing to contest from a Kerala constituency having a majority of minority voters.
The petition accuses the two BJP leaders of violating the model code all past four weeks and the Election Commission not deciding on as many as 40 complaints filed by the Congress.
“Since March 10, that is the date on which General Elections, were notified, the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and BJP President Amit Shah, specifically in sensitive areas and states, have ex facie violated the provisions of the Representation of People’s Act and the Conduct of Election Rules and the process, thereof.
“It is in public domain that they have indulged in hate speeches, repeatedly used the armed forces for political propaganda, despite a clear prohibition on the same by the EC,” the petition said.
