- (1.) Heard Shri H.S. Jain, learned counsel for the petitioner and Shri O.P. Srivastava, learned Senior Counsel for the respondent no.1/Election Commission of India.
(2.) The nature of the order that we propose to pass after hearing the learned counsel for the Election Commission of India, it is not necessary for us to issue any notices to the respondent nos.2 & 3 at this stage.
(3.) This petition has been filed contending that the leader of the respondent no.2/political party who is also the National President has openly made certain declarations to the public at large which, according to the petitioner, amounts to wooing the electorate based on a religious appeal that runs counter to the ratio, letter and spirit of the interpretation given by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Abhiram Singh Vs. C.D. Commachen decided on 02.01.2017 in Civil Appeal No.37 of 1992 while considering the impact of Section 123(3) & Section 29A of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951. The contention on behalf of the petitioner is that such a political party whose president has made such statements in public incurs a disqualification which does not authorise the political party any further to either claim its continuance of recognition or field its candidates on its election symbol. The contention, therefore, is that any poll campaigning or public speaking that amounts to wooing the voters on religious lines is a clear defiance of law and therefore, the Election Commission of India is bound to take action against such persons or political parties keeping in view the nature of the evidence filed on record through a Compact Disc with the supplementary affidavit today.;