NEW DELHI, May 27
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain the BJP’s plea challenging a Calcutta High Court order on a ban on the party’s poll advertisements and said that “prima facie, the advertisements are disparaging”.
The Calcutta High Court had refused to interfere with a single-judge verdict restraining the BJP from issuing advertisements that were allegedly violative of the model code during the Lok Sabha polls, following which the BJP moved the top court.
A vacation bench of Supreme Court Justice J K Maheshwari and Justice K V Viswanathan refused to interfere with the high court order. “We have seen the advertisements. Prima facie, the advertisements are disparaging. You can say you are the best and promote yourself. We don’t want to lend our hands to promote further acrimony. We see no reason to interfere,” the bench said.
Senior advocate P S Patwalia, appearing for the BJP, submitted that the single judge of the high court passed the restraining order without taking into account that there was no such prayer. He said the advertisements were based on facts. After the bench expressed disinclination to entertain the matter, Patwalia sought permission to withdraw the matter and it was dismissed as withdrawn.
The apex court, in its order, said, “Senior counsel appearing for the petitioner seeks leave to withdraw these Special Leave Petitions in terms of the Division Bench order.”
“However, it is open to the petitioner to contest the notices as issued by the single judge by filing their counter-affidavit/reply or any application filed by them, which shall be considered by the high court in accordance with law,” the bench said.
Senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi and Amit Anand Tiwari appeared for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the matter.
The BJP had moved the top court against an order of the Calcutta High Court which had said it was not inclined to entertain the appeal against the interim order passed by the single-judge bench. The single-judge bench on May 20 restrained the BJP from publishing advertisements that violated the model code of conduct until June 4, the day Lok Sabha poll results are scheduled to be declared. The court had also restrained the saffron party from publishing the advertisements mentioned by the ruling TMC in West Bengal in its petition that claimed unverified allegations were made against it and its workers. In its plea before the apex court, the BJP had said the division bench of the high court ought to have considered that the party was not heard and an ex-parte mandatory injunction was granted at an ad-interim stage by the single judge. “It is pertinent to highlight that such interim relief granted by the high court was beyond the prayer sought by the All India Trinamool Congress which was limited only to the grant of interim order directing ECI to take steps in accordance with law,” it had said.
The high court’s division bench had said that the BJP can approach the single judge for a review or modifications or a recall of the order. The BJP had moved the intra-court appeal before the division bench, claiming that the single-judge bench had passed the order without giving it any hearing.
The BJP had claimed that the single judge “erred by granting an interim injunction” based on the purported violation of the poll code without taking into consideration that the issue is pending before the EC, which, by virtue of Article 324 read with Article 329 of the Constitution, has the authority to take appropriate action against any political party that violates the model code.
It had pointed out that aggrieved by the publication of certain advertisements that were allegedly against the spirit of the model code, the TMC had approached the Election Commission. The plea stated that based on the TMC’s complaint, the EC issued a show-cause notice on May 18, directing the BJP to file a reply by May 21.
“On May 20, 2024, the writ petition was listed before the high court.
The single judge, despite observing that the ECI is seized of the issue and a show-cause notice has been issued, proceeded to pass a blanket interim order, which is in the nature of a final order, thereby restraining the petitioner (BJP) from further continuing with the publication of the allegedly offending advertisements till June 4, 2024, or until further orders,” the saffron party had said.
It added that the division bench ought to have considered that the matter was heard and the order passed by the single judge in the absence of the BJP, which has a “significant impact on its ability to canvas during the election”.
