NEW DELHI: The Delhi HC on Monday dismissed a plea seeking direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly delivering communally divisive speeches during the Lok Sabha poll campaign in violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
Justice Sachin Datta said the plea was “wholly misconceived” and devoid of merit, and the ECI can take an independent view of the complaint of the petitioner in accordance with law.
“As such, at this stage, the present petition is wholly misconceived. In the circumstances, this court finds no merit whatsoever in the present petition and the same is accordingly dismissed,” the court said in the order.
The court also referred to its earlier order passed in a plea pertaining to a speech given by the Prime Minister where he allegedly sought votes in the name of religion and deities, and said making any presupposition that the poll panel will not take any action against errant parties and politicians is unjustified.
The petitioner’s counsel said the ECI cannot have different standards for taking action against different politicians. The plea by Shaheen Abdulla alleged that no action has been taken against Prime Minister Modi and others from the BJP for their alleged hate speeches, despite complaints made to the ECI.