The Supreme Court has expressed concern about political parties using regionalism and religion to gain votes, calling it as "dangerous as promoting communal divide in society", according to reports.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said that such practices threaten the unity and integrity of India. The bench made this observation while rejecting a plea to cancel the registration of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). The court said it would not target one party when many are guilty of similar conduct. It advised the petitioner to file a broader case focused on electoral reforms instead of singling out AIMIM.
"Regional parties openly promote regionalism and seek votes during elections. Is this not against the unity and integrity of the country?" the bench said.
The court also noted that AIMIM’s constitution supports backwards and minority communities, which is allowed under the Indian Constitution. It clarified that while promoting religion in general is not illegal but seeking votes based on religion or caste violates election laws and can lead to disqualification.
"No doubt the petition raises an important issue. But this can only be gone into when a neutral petition is filed without accusing a single party," the bench said as quoted by Times of India. "If a religious law is protected by the Constitution, then a political party has the right to propagate that," the court said.
It said if a candidate of a party, which conforms to the standards set by the Constitution and Representation of the People Act, seeks votes in the name of religion, then s/he is liable for disqualification.
The Delhi High Court had earlier dismissed the same petition, stating that AIMIM followed all legal rules and banning it would violate constitutional rights.
The challenge was made by one Tirupati Narasimha Murari, who alleged that the AIMIM's declared objectives were to serve the Muslim community alone and hence it cannot be recognized as a political party for violating the principle of secularism.
Murari's advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain said AIMIM’s constitution advocates the cause of the Muslim community alone and has the objective of promotion of Islamic education, commitment to Sharia law, formation of Majlis Shura and prioritisation of employment, education and economic welfare of the Muslim community. “This is against secularism, the basic tenet of the Indian Constitution,” Jain said. .
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