SC agrees to hear plea of Congress MP alleging violation of Model Code by Modi & Amit Shah

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear a petition filed by a Congress MP demanding urgent EC action on the alleged violations of the model code of conduct by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP Chief Amit Shah. The petition had been filed by Silchar MP and All India Mahila Congress President Sushmita Dev.

The petition was mentioned before a bench led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi on Monday for urgent listing by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Singhvi said that multiple petitions had been filed regarding these violations and have been pending ever since with the poll panel. He urged the court to direct the EC to take a call either way on the representations to the EC on these violations.


The CJI first demanded to know the names of the dramatis personae against whom the petition has been filed. "PM Modi and Amit Shah? Why are you not naming them?" The CJI then said he would hear the case "last" asking Singhvi to wait while he cleared the rest of the board of cases before him.

When the case eventually came up, the CJI said that he would hear the issue at length tomorrow. Singhvi cited the court's earlier precedent set in the Mahua Moitra case -- in which the supreme court had asked the EC to take a call on alleged sexual lynching coloured remarks against Moitra by local BJP leaders -- to plead for relief.

"These egregious violations of the model code of conduct have been pending over 4 weeks," Singhvi argued.

The petition among other things refers to the PM's statements regarding the armed forces during campaigning and alleged hate speeches. The Congress, the petition said, has filed 40 such complaints with the EC. But the EC hasn't taken any decision on any of its complaints. One of the complaints relate to the PM's holding a rally on election day.

The petition said inaction by the EC and its reluctance to ensure a level playing field amounted to an abdication of its constitutional responsibilities. The PM and Shah were habitual offenders and the EC cannot shun its responsibilities, the petition filed by lawyer Sunil Fernandes, said.