BREAKING| Supreme Court Refuses To Interfere With HC Order Stopping BJP's 'Derogatory' Ads Against TMC; Says Ads Are Prima Facie Disparaging
The Supreme Court on Monday (May 27) refused to entertain a plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against Calcutta High Court orders restraining it from publishing certain advertisements in respect of All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC/TMC) during the Lok Sabha Elections, which were allegedly derogatory and violated the Model Code of Conduct.The Vacation Bench of Justices JK...
The Supreme Court on Monday (May 27) refused to entertain a plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against Calcutta High Court orders restraining it from publishing certain advertisements in respect of All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC/TMC) during the Lok Sabha Elections, which were allegedly derogatory and violated the Model Code of Conduct.
The Vacation Bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and KV Viswanathan refused to interfere with the High Court orders, after perusing the record. "We have seen the advertisements. Prima Facie, the advertisements are disparaging. You can say you are the best...but...we don't want to lend our hands to promote further acrimony," Justice Viswanathan said when Senior Advocate PS Patwalia, appearing for BJP, asserted that the advertisements were based on facts.
"This is not in the interests of the voter. This will degenerate...," Justice Viswanathan was heard saying. "Don't precipitate the issue, we are not inclined to interfere," Justice Maheshwari added.
Following the disinclination expressed by the bench, Patwalia chose to withdraw the petition, seeking liberty to file reply before the High Court single bench which passed the interim order.
Accordingly, the petition was dismissed as withdrawn, giving liberty to the BJP to contest the matter (by filing reply) before the Single Bench of the High Court.
"Your rival is not your enemy," Justice Viswanathan commented after the matter was over.
Last week, the petition was mentioned before a vacation bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal for an urgent hearing. Underscoring the urgency, BJP's counsel had submitted that an "ex-parte" order was passed against the party, which is to remain in force till June 4 (when Lok Sabha elections process is ending).
Notably, a Single Judge bench of the High Court, after perusing the disputed advertisements, had noted that the same were violative of the MCC as well as the guidelines set by the Press Council of India. Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya also marked that MCC clearly prohibits all participants in the election process from criticism of other parties based on unverified allegations or distortion.
“It is also clear that in the garb of advertisements, the present impugned allegations and publications made against the petitioner are outright derogatory and definitely intended at insulting the rivals and levelling personal attacks against its functionaries,” the interim order read.
The Single Judge also pulled up Election Commission of India (ECI) for its inaction, saying that it “grossly failed” to address the complaints in due time.
“This court is surprised that no resolution worth the name has been arrived at regarding the said complaints till date, more so, since most of the phases of the electoral process are already over and only two phases are left and the entire election process shall be concluded by June 04, 2024.”
Accordingly, an interim direction was passed against the BJP to restrain itself from publishing the impugned advertisements till the conclusion of elections on June 4 or until further orders. The party was further restrained from publishing advertisements in any form of media which was violative of the MCC.
The Single Bench decision was affirmed by a division bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya. In this order, the Court also expressed concern over the fashion in which the ads in question were published.
“You (BJP) are a national party. There should be an internal mechanism either at centre or state level which will approve what propaganda can be printed. there should be some Lakshman Rekha sir. National parties filing this…we are not complimenting them (TMC)…but imagine the impact on normal people. Normally any ad will contain a companies logo and their colour scheme. This is an ad by a party which does not have their colour scheme or logo. If you people keep fighting amongst yourselves, the victim is the person who is going to elect his representative…they get misinformed,” the High Court division bench remarked while dismissing the appeal.
Counsel for petitioner-BJP: Senior Advocate PS Patwalia
Counsels for respondent-TMC: Senior Advocates Dr AM Singhvi and Amit Anand Tiwari
Case Title: BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY v. ALL INDIA TRINAMOOL CONGRESS AND ORS., Diary No. 24545-2024