A bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde said, we are staying the matter, till we further hear the case.
In a relief to Kamal Nath, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Election Commission of India's (ECI) decision to revoke former chief minister and Congress leader's status as star campaigner due to alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for his speeches.
In the order, the poll panel had said, "...For repeated violation of Model Code of Conduct and for completely disregarding the advisory issued to him, the Commission hereby revokes the status of leader of political party (Star Campaigner) of Kamal Nath, Ex-Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh, with immediate effect for the current By-elections of Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh."
A bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, said, we are staying the matter, till we further hear the case.
The counsel appearing for the poll panel told a bench headed by SA Bobde that Nath's plea has become infructuous as the campaigning has ended and the voting is to take place on Tuesday.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Kamal Nath, opposed the arguments made by Dwivedi. "No notice was issued to us and this was arbitrary," said Sibal
The Supreme Court was hearing a plea filed by the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister against ECI's decision to revoke his status.
Nath, who is currently the president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee, has said in his plea that the EC has passed the order without any notice or hearing him based on a complaint by the BJP against a speech delivered on October 13.
The former Union minister and nine-time Member of Parliament further claimed that leaders of the BJP have been "repeatedly making statements ex-facie in violation" of the model code during campaigning for the by-elections.
His plea submitted that the EC order was illegal, arbitrary, unreasoned, passed in complete violation of basic canons of natural justice and in negation of fair play and therefore, deserved to be quashed.
Besides seeking quashing of the EC order, the senior Congress leader has also sought framing of appropriate guidelines for speeches during campaigning by star campaigners or campaigners, "keeping in mind the right to freedom of speech and expression and concept of democratic elections".
During the course of the hearing, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, told the apex court that Commission had acted as per law and revoked Kamal Nath's status.
Nath had used the words "mafia" and "milawat khor" against a political rival at a recent campaigning event.
Nath had also allegedly referred to BJP leader Imarti Devi as an 'item' during a by-election rally, sparking a controversy.
Imarti Devi is contesting the Madhya Pradesh by-polls on the BJP ticket from Dabra.
Nath had later expressed regret over his remarks and said he did not intend to insult anyone. However, he said there was no need for him to apologise.
"Why should I apologise when I did not intend to insult anyone? If anyone felt insulted, I have already expressed regret," Nath had said.
Voting on 28 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh by-polls will take place on November 3 and the results will be declared on November 10.
By-elections are due on 28 seats following the resignation of 25 MLAs and the death of three legislators earlier.
In March this year, 22 Congress MLAs resigned from the state Assembly paving the way for BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan to take over as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister for the fourth time.
(With agency inputs)
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