Apex Court Refuses To Entertain Pleas Against PM Modi And Anurag Thakur For Alleged Hate Speeches During Election Campaigns

The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a writ petition filed against Prime Minister Narender Modi and the Election Commission of India alleging 'hate speeches' during the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections campaign, especially stereotyping the Muslim community. The Court also dismissed another writ petition filed citing alleged hate speeches by Union Minister Anurag Thakur, and also by the Prime Minister. 

The matters were listed before the bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma. The Court said, "Have you approached the authorities first?... For a writ of mandamus, you must approach the authorities first. Do not come under Articles 32 and 226 like this. You must approach authority. If you want to withdraw, we will permit you."

Senior Advocate Sanjay Hedge mentioned one of the petitions and briefly made submissions about the urgency in the matter. The Court said, "We are not inclined to interfere. We cannot issue such directions under Article 32. Dismissed."

Simultaneously, another Counsel approached the Court and submitted a similar writ petition was also listed. The Court refused to entertain the plea and the Counsel requested for permission to withdraw the petition. To which the Court said, "Dismissed as withdrawn. We will not grant any liberty to approach...that is your job."

Dr Emani Anantha Satyanarayana Sarma, an ex-IAS officer who was the Secretary in the Ministry of Power and Ministry of Finance, and Prof. Trilochan Shashtry, former Dean of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, in one of the petitions, approached the court for appropriate action against the hate speeches delivered by the campaigning political entities, specifically those on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party during campaigning for the Lok Sabha Elections. This Petition was filed against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Anurag Thakur and the Election Commission of India. 

The Petition, filed by Advocate Anas Tanwir, stated, "The Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 21.04.2024, and the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, and Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Anurag Singh Thakur on 27.04.2024 have used hate speech demonising and stereotyping the Muslim community which was relayed by different mediums across the country...Further, on 30.04.2024 the Bharatiya Janata Party posted an animated video on its official Instagram account which repeated the hate speech used by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 21.04.2024 and the same was reposted by its members. A similar video was uploaded on 06.05.2024 on X, formerly Twitter, by Shri Arvind Dharmapuri, sitting Member of Parliament belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party, Nizamabad, Telangana."

The Plea also said, "In contrast, the Election Commission of India issued directives to the Aam Aadmi Party mandating alterations to their campaign anthem, citing perceived insinuations against the Bharatiya Janata Party and the judiciary. Additionally, Shri K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the Founder of Bharat Rashtra Samithi, was barred from campaigning due to alleged derogatory remarks made against the Indian National Congress. Notably, these interventions were initiated suo motu by the Election Commission. It is respectfully contended that the Model Code of Conduct delineates distinct provisions and standards of adherence applicable to the incumbent government, with a markedly higher threshold of compliance."

It was prayed by the Petitioners to issue a writ of Mandamus to the ECI to take appropriate action against the violation of the Model Code of Conduct by the BJP and its representatives and to exercise its power under Article 324 and initiate an investigation into the hate speech propagated by Prime Minister and Anurag Singh Thakur, which was further reiterated by the BJP through a video uploaded in its official Instagram account.

In another writ petition, filed by a lady Fatima against Prime Minister Narender Modi and the Election Commission of India, it was alleged that on April 21, 2024, PM Modi addressed a public rally at Banswara, Rajasthan in which he made statements aiming at creating enmity between groups which is a serious violation of the Model Code of Conduct and Representation of the Peoples Act and Indian Penal Code.

The petition filed through Advocate Dr. Sunil Kumar Agarwal, reproduced the excerpt of the speech made by PM Modi, which is also available in the public domain. The plea stated that “The Petitioner submits that this clearly shows that the statement made by the Respondent No.2 are not only inflammatory but illegal and promoting ill feeling amongst communities. The Respondent No.2 referring to mangalsutra is clearly referring to Hindu Community. The Respondent No.2 referred to Ghuspaithiye meaning intruder and jinke jyada bachche hain, meaning he is clearly speaking in reference to Muslim community. The Petitioner is submitting the details of the speech of Respondent No.2 at Rajasthan’s Banswara on 21.04.2024 which is available in the Youtube Page of Shri Narendra Modi…” 

Cause Title: Fatima v. The Chief Election Commissioner and Anr. (Diary No(s). 21732/2024) and Dr EAS Sarma and Anr. v. The Election Commission of India (Diary No. 22067/2024)