New Delhi: A day after the Election Commission acted against Yogi Adityanath, Mayawati, Maneka Gandhi and Azam Khan over inappropriate comments, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it seems the commission has finally woken up to its powers.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi expressed satisfaction over the action taken by the EC in the matters of hate speeches and said no further directive requires to be issued at this stage.
“It seems you have finally woken up to your powers. You have got your powers back. You don't look powerless anymore,” observed the CJI when the matter was taken up for hearing.
The bench then recorded its satisfaction, relying upon the EC's response detailing the prohibitory orders issued by it in the last 24 hours against the politicians. It kept the PIL pending but noted there is no need to pass further orders in the matter.
The court also declined to give a hearing to BSP supremo Mayawati, who has been barred for campaigning for 48 hours in view of her communal comments.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave appeared for Mayawati and challenged the order by the EC, especially during the election time. But the bench asked Dave to file a separate petition if Mayawati seeks to challenge the EC's order.
On Monday, the Court had pulled up the EC for not doing enough to curb hate speeches. It had questioned the authority being exercised by the EC to act against the errant leaders, in particular when their speeches violate model code of conduct.
Comments
0 comment