The Delhi High court yesterday dismissed a plea seeking direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to disqualify Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly seeking votes for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the name of religious deities and places of worship for ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
While dismissing the plea, the court said the petition is thoroughly misconceived and court can't direct ECI to take a particular view on any complaint. Petitioner claimed that in a speech delivered by PM Modi at Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit, he sought votes appealing to the voters to vote for his party in the name of Hindu deities and Hindu places of worship as well as Sikh deities and Sikh places of worship.
Appearing for the poll body, Advocate Sidhant Kumar opposed the plea stating that it is dealing with such applications on a daily basis and will take action as per law. He has filed the representation and we will process it. The commission is a constitutional body. A bench of Justice Sachin Datta said the petitioner presupposes that there has been a violation of MCC. This is comletely unjustified. The plea being devoid of merit is dismissed.
It should be noted that a lawyer filed a plea against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Delhi High Court for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), and sought his disqualification from contesting elections.
Referring to Modi’s poll speech in Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh on April 9, the plea by Anand S. Jondhale alleged that the PM was seeking votes in the name of “god and place of worship” and "Hindu deities and Hindu place of worships as well as Sikh deities and Sikh place of worship" while campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, according to a report by Bar and Bench.
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