Delhi HC dismisses petition seeking to bar PM Modi from polls over alleged religious appeals

Delhi HC dismissed a petition seeking to disqualify PM Modi over electoral code violations. The petition alleged Modi sought votes in the name of deities. The court ruled the plea was meritless, as Modi had already filed a complaint with the Election Commission. The court emphasized the Commission's independent role in such matters and stated that the petitioner could pursue other legal options if dissatisfied with the Commission's decision.

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a petition that had sought directions to disqualify Prime Minister Narendra Modi from contesting elections for six years for allegedly seeking votes in the name of deities, saying the plea was ''thoroughly misconceived''.

Justice Sachin Datta said the plea was ''devoid of any merits''.

Petitioner Anand S Jondhale, a lawyer, had urged the court to take action against Modi for allegedly seeking votes in the name of gods and places of worship, saying this amounted to violating the model code of conduct and committing an offence under the Indian Penal Code and Representation of the People Act.

The Lok Sabha polls are currently being held in the country.

The high court said the petition is thoroughly misconceived on multiple reasons, including that once the petitioner submitted a complaint to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on April 10, there was no occasion for him to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of this court even before the disposal of the complaint by the commission.

''The petitioner presupposes that there has been a violation of the model code of conduct. This presupposition is completely unjustified. It is not permissible for this court to direct the ECI to take a particular view on the petitioner complaint or any other complaint for that matter and issue peremptory directions as sought by the petitioner,'' the court.

It further said the ECI is obliged to take an independent view on the complaint of the petitioner and if he is aggrieved by it, he is free to take the recourse of appropriate remedy available under the law.

During the hearing, advocate Sidhant Kumar, representing the ECI, said the complaint made by the petitioner shall be duly processed and appropriate orders will be passed.

The petition said the prime minister delivered a speech in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, on April 9 where he ''not only sought votes in the name of Hindu and Sikh deities and their places of worship but also made comments against opposition political parties as favouring Muslims''.

The petitioner alleged that during his speech, the prime minister appealed to the voters to vote for the BJP in the name of ''Hindu deities and Hindu place of worship as well as Sikh deities and Sikh place of worship''.

He sought to restrain the prime minister from seeking votes in the name of religious deities and places of worship.

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