Delhi High Court dismisses plea seeking FIR against PM Modi for alleged 'hate speeches'
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has rejected a plea seeking immediate action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other candidates for purportedly delivering "communally divisive speeches" during the Lok Sabha polls, citing the plea as "misconceived."
Justice Sachin Datta dismissed the plea, stating it lacked merit. “This court finds no merit in the petition. The petition is accordingly dismissed,” the court said.The petition had urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take immediate action, including filing FIRs against candidates delivering hate speeches in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
The petition referenced speeches by PM Modi in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, tweets by BJP Chief JP Nadda, and a speech by Union Minister Anurag Thakur in Himachal Pradesh. It criticized the ECI for purportedly failing to act on numerous complaints.
The plea argued that the ECI's inaction constituted a violation of constitutional duties and hindered free and fair elections.
“This inaction on the part of the Respondent is manifestly arbitrary, malafide, impermissible and constitutes a violation of its constitutional duty. It amounts to rendering the MCC futile, the very purpose of which is to ensure that communal harmony and the spirit of brotherhood is not given a go-by by candidates to secure victory in the elections,” the plea stated.
It added that the “omissions and commissions” by ECI are not only in complete and direct violation of Articles 14, 21 and 324 of the Constitution of India but are also “impeding free, fair and unbiased General Elections.”
“It is submitted that a bare perusal of the aforementioned speeches, that are readily available and are being widely circulated on social media platforms, sufficiently establishes their communally inciteful nature. The Respondent, despite being solely responsible for the conduct of free and fair elections, has miserably failed in its constitutional duty of preventing hate speeches thereby leaving the sanctity and integrity of the entire election process in a lurch,” the plea stated.
Despite complaints, no action had been taken against PM Modi and others from the BJP, the petition claimed.
“The Respondent's failure to take expeditious action is violative of the Representation of People Act, 1951, The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 as well as the Constitution of India,” the plea states.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
