The Delhi High Court Today (Jan 29) directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take strict action against political parties using “vilifying” content in election campaigns. This comes after a PIL alleged spam calls and voice messages were misleading voters by claiming that freebies would be withdrawn if they didn’t vote for a specific party. The court emphasized that the ECI must ensure free and fair elections and prevent misleading political ads, including voice calls.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today told the Election Commission of India (ECI) to make sure that political parties and their candidates do not use any “vilifying” material during their election campaigns.
A bench led by Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela gave this order after a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) was filed. The PIL said that people were getting spam calls and voice messages from unknown numbers. These calls were asking them to vote for a specific political party to get freebies.
The court closed the case, as the Election Commission of India had already decided to take action based on the complaint.
The judges also stated that the state election officer, chief election officer, and district election officer have full power and responsibility to stop such calls and advertisements. These materials can harm the election environment, and it is their duty to prevent this from happening.
Advocate Sidhant Kumar, who represented the Election Commission of India (ECI), said that the commission had already taken note of the complaint. The chief election officer of Delhi was asked to investigate the claims and give a detailed report.
Kumar also mentioned that the ECI had set guidelines to ensure that all political advertisements, including voice calls, must be certified before being used.
ALSO READ: [BREAKING] Lok Sabha Polls 2024 | “We Trust ECI to Act”: Delhi HC | Deepfake Videos
He further added that once the chief election officer’s report is submitted, the ECI will take appropriate action.
The court directed,
“We thus direct that based on the enquiry report to be submitted by the chief election officer, appropriate action which will be warranted under law be taken by ECI or any other authority under law to do so.”
Regarding the legislative assembly elections, the court highlighted that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has the main responsibility to ensure free and fair elections under Article 324 of the Indian Constitution.
“It (ECI) has been vested with powers to take every step for ensuring free and fair elections while supervising the conduct of elections. It thus becomes the duty of the ECI to take proactive steps to check circulation of such messages which have the potential of vitiating the atmosphere,”
-the court stated.
The PIL was filed by three lawyers, Dhrone Diwan, Kashish Dhawan, and Arshia Jain. They requested the court to take action against those who were spreading false and damaging information.
ALSO READ: Supreme Court Sends Notice to ECI on Free Symbol Allotment Challenge
The lawyers claimed that some voters received voice calls saying that if they did not vote for a specific political party, their freebies would be taken away.
The petition also included a request to postpone the elections, but the court denied this request. The court said that there was no valid reason to delay the elections at this stage.
The court finally concluded,
“We thus dispose of the PIL taking note of the action taken by the ECI on the complaint of the petitioners as also the provision contained in the handbook issued by ECI with further hope and trust that appropriate action under law shall be taken not only on the complaint of the petitioners but also for ensuring that political parties and their candidates are checked not to use any vilifying material during election campaigns.”
The petitioners alleged that these spam calls were being made on purpose to spread hatred, bias, and misleading information among the public.
ALSO READ: BREAKING New Electoral Bond Data Uploaded on ECI Website, Furnished by SBI
They also claimed that this negative material was damaging the reputation of some political parties and was creating public bias.
The petition clearly stated,
“A voice call was received with a particular political party being named, which is made respondent herein (Aam Aadmi Party), and stated all the freebies offered by it would be withdrawn from February 11, 2025, that is the day when the newly-elected government of Delhi legislative Assembly would take its charge, if voters of Delhi wish to get freebies they should not vote for any other political party.”
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on Election Commission
FOLLOW US ON YOUTUBE FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES
