SC asks EC to decide by May 6 complaints against PM Modi, Shah

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Thursday directed the Election Commission to decide by May 6 nine complaints of the Congress party alleging MCC violations by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

The poll panel told a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that it has already decided on two out of the 11 complaints which were filed by the Congress party against Modi and Shah for alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

Senior advocate, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Congress Lok Sabha MP Sushmita Dev, who has filed a petition in the apex court on the issue, said that they had given 11 representations to EC against the duo, but it has decided on only two.

"The Election Commission shall decide the remaining representations of the petitioners before we hear the matter again on Monday (May 6)," said the bench also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.

The poll panel has given a clean chit to PM Modi for three of his speeches.

In her plea, Dev has alleged that "inaction" by EC on complaints against top BJP leaders was "a sign of invidious discrimination" as also "arbitrary, capricious and impermissible" as it was destructive of the integrity of the electoral process.

It has been alleged that BJP leaders have been violating MCC during the last four weeks and the EC has not taken any decisions on as many as 40 complaints of Congress party.

In a related development, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's recent remarks, tagging BJP chief Amit Shah a murder-accused at an election campaign, was not a violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the Election Commission said here on Thursday. See P7