Congress at EC over 'libelous' ads against Siddaramaiah
New Delhi, April 27: The Congress on Friday submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission (EC) against the Karnataka unit of BJP for "publishing and broadcasting false, misleading and defamatory advertisements" in print and electronic media.
The party said such advertisements were a violation of model code of conduct by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was doing this for the sake of votes.
The Congress complained that the BJP in Karnataka levelled "false, frivolous, baseless, unfounded and unsubstantiated charges" against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to "malign his image".
The complaint was made as the model code is in force in the state which goes to polls on May 12.
The party demanded that the Commission inquire into the complaint and take strict and prompt action in the matter.
The memorandum was submitted by Congress leaders Mohan Prakash, P.L. Punia, Vivek Tankha, Avinash Pandey, Sushmita Dev and Pranav Jha to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Om Prakash Rawat.
"That a print advertisement was published in various newspapers in Karnataka with an intent to malign the image of Chief Minister of the state by making false and unverified allegations against him.
"In these advertisements, the Karnataka BJP has made serious allegations and remarks using unsubstantiated and vague metrics like 'goondaraj', killing of lakes, garbage mess, etc.," the memorandum said.
"These advertisements blatantly use the Chief Minister's name and likeness to malign his character. Use of words 'Siddha Sarkar' and a cut-out of Chief Minister makes it explicit that the allegations are of personal nature...," it added.
The memorandum stated that similar advertisements had also appeared on various television channels.
"We request the Election Commission, in accordance with parliamentary and democratic traditions, to inquire into the matter and take strict and prompt action...against the Karnataka BJP for violation of model code," said the party.
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SC judges to make their assets public, amid row over cash at Justice Yashwant Varma’s house: Report
New Delhi: The Supreme Court judges have reportedly agreed to disclose their assets to the public by publishing the same on the top court's website.
The decision was taken recently at a full court meeting and a resolution in this regard was adopted which will apply to future judges as well, as reported by Bar and Bench on Thursday.
A copy of the resolution is yet to be made public.
According to the report, the decision was taken in the wake of recent controversies surrounding opacity in the functioning of the judiciary, especially after a huge pile of cash was allegedly discovered at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma, currently a judge of the Allahabad High Court.
The publication of assets on website was not mandatory earlier but was discretionary subject to whether an individual judge wanted to do the same, the report added.
