Lok Sabha Elections: Calcutta HC restrains BJP over ads targeting TMC

The Court clarified that during elections the print media shall refrain from publishing any unverified information against any candidate or political party

The Calcutta High Court on May 20 restrained the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from running advertisements against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) which violated the model code of conduct during the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections.

A single bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya upon going through the advertisements noted that they were apparently violative of the MCC as well as the guidelines set by the Press Council of India. The Court also slammed the Election Commission of India (ECI) for its inaction on the matter till the present writ petition was filed, Live Law reported.

The Court clarified that during elections the print media shall refrain from publishing any unverified information against any candidate or political party either directly or impliedly as per guidelines issued by the Press Council of India, according to Live Law report.

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However, earlier, the Election Commission had issued two separate show-cause notices to West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar for ”misleading” advertisements targeting the state’s ruling TMC.

The poll watchdog has sought his response as to why the two advertisements should not be treated as violative of the model code of conduct and its advisory to political parties.Majumdar has been asked to respond by 5 pm on May 21.

TMC had approached the Election Commission against the advertisements.While issuing the notices, the poll watchdog reminded the BJP leader about the provisions of the model code of conduct, which deals with criticism based on unverified allegations, and its recent advisory to parties that states unverified and misleading advertisements should not be published in the media.

Polling began for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 on May 20. Lucknow, Raebareli, Amethi and all six Mumbai constituencies are among the 49 Lok Sabha seats polling from 8 States and Union Territories today.

In the last four phases, the average voter turnout was 62.9 per cent, an election official said. In 2019 elections, the average for these constituencies was 62.5 per cent, he added.