It has also directed the ECI on Wednesday to prohibit political parties and candidates from “vilifying material” during their election campaigns in view of PILs filed before the Court which, besides spam calls, were filled over alleged recorded voice messages asking people to vote for one particular party since it would distribute freebies to its supporter – the public.
The bench headed by Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the order disposing of the PIL as it has noted that ECI has agreed to take these complaints of the petitioners. Court held that election authorities in the states- chief electoral officer, and district election officer must review the message or advertisement which tends to spread a threat environment during the electoral process.
Advocate Sidhant Kumar, appearing for the ECI, said the Commission has taken cognizance of the petition and asked the chief election officer, Delhi, to inquire into the allegations and submit a report. Kumar also said that the ECI has issued guidelines which mandates certification for political advertisement even on voice calls.
The bench said, “We thus direct that based on the enquiry report to be submitted by the chief election officer, appropriate action which will be warranted under law be taken by ECI or any other authority under law to do so.”
While addressing the context of the forthcoming legislative assembly elections, the court also reminded the ECI of its foremost duty under Article 324 of the Constitution to ensure free and fair elections. “It has been vested with powers to take every step for ensuring free and fair elections while supervising the conduct of elections,” the bench pointed out. The court called upon the ECI to take proactive steps against the circulation of messages that may affect the electoral atmosphere.
This PIL was filed through advocates Dhrone Diwan, Kashish Dhawan and Arshia Jain seeking action against the disseminating of malafide vilifying contents. According to them misleading voice calls, stating that if one fails to give the vote to any particular political party they may be deprived of those kinds of freebies that they have gained beforehand.
To a plea by the counsel for petitioners to defer the elections, the court made it clear that “at this stage, it was not possible to entertain any such request, since no valid grounds had been established in the PIL”. The bench concluded, “We thus dispose of the PIL, taking note of the action taken by the ECI on the complaint of the petitioners, and express hope that appropriate measures will be implemented to ensure political parties refrain from using vilifying materials during campaigns.”
The PIL has alleged that the spam calls are being made in a coordinated manner with an ulterior motive of spreading hatred and bias with the intention of damaging the reputation of other political parties. A recorded voice message threatened that all freebies offered by the Aam Aadmi Party would be withdrawn from February 11, 2025, when a new government is formed, unless the electors support them.
