The Supreme Court did not hear the petition raising the issue of inciting hate statements by people holding high constitutional posts, terming it political. The court advised that the petition should be filed after correction. After seeing the stand of the bench, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, said that he will file the amended petition in 2 weeks.
The petition by 12 people, including social activist Roop Rekha Verma and former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, had mentioned the statements of the Chief Ministers of UP and Uttarakhand, including the anti-Muslim video of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Apart from these, statements of some other BJP leaders were placed before the court. The petitioners had demanded that guidelines should be made to control the statements of people holding high positions.
The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice BV Nagarathna and Joymalya Bagchi said that the real issue should have been discussed in the petition. But the aim here seems to be to mention some people and conveniently leave out others. On this Sibal admitted that there was deficiency in the petition. In this, more emphasis should have been given on the actual topic and not on the names of the leaders.
Justice Nagarathna, member of the bench, said, ‘It is the responsibility of all political parties to maintain brotherhood in the country. Elections should be fought on the basis of constitutional morality and mutual respect. Agreeing to this, the Chief Justice said, ‘We want that there should be brotherhood in the society and people should give their statements responsibly. But if the intention of the petitioner is to target only certain people, then such a petition cannot be heard. We will wait for a good petition on this issue.
Justice Bagchi reminded that in the past too, in some cases, guidelines have been given regarding hate speech and rhetoric of people holding government positions. He asked whether the court will have to repeat the same instructions again. Sibal said that people holding high positions also have greater accountability. Therefore, the Supreme Court should hear this matter.
Sibal said that the media keeps showing the poisonous statements of leaders made before the announcement of elections even when the Model Code of Conduct is in force. The Election Commission does not take action on this saying that the statements were given earlier. The Supreme Court should also take cognizance of these things. He should make guidelines for media and social media.
