SC refuses to hear Cong MP's plea seeking action against Modi, Shah for poll code violations, allows fresh petition

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear Congress MP Sushmita Dev's plea seeking action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah for alleged poll code violations and asked her to file a fresh petition. 

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta, however, gave Dev the liberty to file a fresh plea against various Election Commission (EC) orders rejecting complaints of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violations by Modi and Shah during campaigning.

The apex court Monday had asked the MP from Silchar to bring on record the EC's orders giving clean chit to the BJP leaders on several complaints of MCC violations over alleged hate speeches and references to armed forces for "political propaganda". 

Dev, in her plea filed last week, had alleged inaction by EC in deciding complaints against Modi and Shah and has said that it was "a sign of invidious discrimination" and also "arbitrary, capricious and impermissible" as it was destructive of the integrity of electoral process.

The apex court had directed the poll panel to decide by May 6, the nine complaints of the Congress party alleging violations of MCC by the Prime Minister and Shah.

The Election Commission has disposed of all the complaints against PM Modi the BJP chief and has given them clean chit in all the cases.

Since the petition only demanded EC to decide on the complaints, the top court dismissed it as "infructuous. The Court said in the present petition there was no prayer challenging the EC orders and hence it was not possible for Court to examine them.

The court allowed the petitioner liberty to file a fresh petition challenging the orders passed by EC on their complaints.

"Rightly or wrongly", the poll panel has decided the complaints of MCC violations and these orders warrant filing of a fresh petition, the bench said.

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the EC, said the persons who had given representations of MCC violations to the poll panel have not come forward to assail them.

Senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for Dev, said the poll panel had given unreasoned orders in dismissing the complaints against Modi and Shah. 

(With PTI inputs)