The Delhi High Court Today (May 1st) dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition requesting the Election Commission of India (ECI) to establish a system ensuring that detained political figures and candidates could campaign in elections through video conferencing.
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NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) that sought directives for the Election Commission of India (ECI) to create a system allowing arrested political leaders and candidates to campaign through video conference during elections.
The Division Bench, consisting of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, chose not to impose costs on the petitioner, a law student, but strongly advised his counsel to educate him on the separation of powers principle.
Acting Chief Justice Manmohan expressed concerns about the implications of such a provision, cautioning,
“You want all the people arrested to be allowed to campaign in elections through VC. I am telling you, if this is done, all the dreaded criminals will form political parties. Dawood Ibrahim would contest election and campaign through VC.”
He highlighted the potential risks of enabling widespread access to campaign tools for incarcerated individuals, including those with criminal backgrounds.
The bench emphasized that the court is cautious of becoming entangled in political matters, despite frequent petitions that attempt to draw it into such domains.
“There is a little bit of propaganda involved in this… There is publicity involved in this as well. There is an attempt to involve court into all this. It is becoming a part of strategy and don’t think we don’t understand the strategy,”
-the Acting Chief Justice remarked, indicating the court’s awareness of the underlying motives behind such filings.
Further, the court noted that the petition contradicted fundamental legal principles and admonished the petitioner for requesting the judiciary to act outside its legislative bounds.
“People have this notion that we (Courts) are not bound by the law… You (petitioner) are asking us to act contrary to the law. You are asking us to legislate,”
-the court declared.
The court also warned of potentially imposing significant costs exceeding Rs 75,000 on future similar petitions, referencing a previous case where the court had dismissed a plea with costs for seeking extraordinary interim bail for Arvind Kejriwal. To prevent costs this time, the court suggested that if the counsel could educate the petitioner about the importance of separation of powers, it would refrain from imposing a financial penalty.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Amarjeet Gupta in the Delhi High Court centered on a request for the Election Commission of India (ECI) to devise a mechanism allowing political leaders, who are arrested but not yet convicted, to continue their electoral campaigning through video conferencing.
Gupta, notably disturbed by the timing of various political arrests following the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) on March 16, 2024, highlighted the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as a prime example.
He argued that such arrests not only deprive political figures of their constitutional rights to campaign but also rob voters of their fundamental right to be informed about political ideologies, plans, and programs during election times.
The petition specifically pointed out that the arrest of Kejriwal, a leader from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is in opposition to the ruling party at the central government, disrupts the level playing field essential for fair elections. Gupta claimed that the Directorate of Enforcement’s actions, by arresting Kejriwal, directly impact the electoral rights of both the leaders and the voters.
“Further, the leaders of political parties are also deprived of their constitutionally guaranteed fundamental and legal right to campaign during the election,”
-the plea argued.
“It is pertinent to mention that there are different political parties in power ruling the Government of NCT of Delhi and the Government of India. In fact, both the political parties are in opposition to each other. Therefore, the timing of the arrest of the aforesaid party leader vitiates the level playing field as his right to campaign has been curtailed due to the action of the Directorate of Enforcement. Further, the right of voters to be informed about the ideology, plans and programs of the Aam Aadmi Party has been curtailed on account of the arrest.”
-It added.
Furthermore, the PIL advocated for a more transparent communication process between the Central government and the ECI regarding the arrest of political leaders during the election period.
Gupta emphasized the discrepancy in the current system where preventive detentions are reported to the ECI, but not the arrests made by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), suggesting a need for immediate reform to ensure all relevant detentions are disclosed to the Election Commission.
This, according to Gupta, is crucial for maintaining the integrity and fairness of the electoral process.
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