Supreme Law News

No election for people if they indulge in violence

"Even with reference to the Model Code of Conduct, if two groups of people are fighting in this manner, they do not require the assistance of any elected representative.

Since elections will lead to more issues," the Court stated.

Orally on Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court recommended against holding elections in regions where communal riots happened on Ram Navami.

Elections should not be held in locations where people cannot celebrate a festival in peace, even for a few hours, according to a bench made up of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya.

"We will call off the elections if people are unable to live in love and peace. We will declare that parliamentary elections in these constituencies will not be held by the Election Commission of India (ECI). There isn't another route. Chief Justice Sivagnanam remarked, "The lessons they never learn."

The bench stated that this year, at least, there were very few violent incidents during the Ram Navami celebration in Howrah and Hooghly and that generally there were very few issues.

"Even though the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has been mentioned, two groups of people arguing in this manner do not require a representative. since the election will lead to further issues. There will be one case and then a countercase, with the State supporting one and Central Agencies supporting the other. The Chief Justice then said, "And then we will have to go outside the State to find out the truth."

The panel was considering petitions that brought attention to the recent violence that occurred during the Ram Navami celebrations in West Bengal's Cooch Behar and a few other districts. The bench took notice of the fact that the State Police had turned over the investigation to the Crime Investigation Department (CID), and that important information regarding the case's current state was being prepared and would be presented to the bench during the next hearing date.

But the bench firmly stated that elections are not necessary under these conditions.

The bench observed that there were at least 33 locations in Kolkata alone where Ram Navami celebrations were taking place.

But there were no reports of any violent incidents. The State's attorney told the bench that minor things like a small flag being torn were the cause of the two occurrences.

"They are all related to the upcoming elections," Chief Justice Sivagnanam retorted.

Despite the fact that no religion condones violence, many nonetheless turn to it for unimportant reasons, according to government advice.

We would like to suggest to the ECI that individuals who are unable to celebrate a holiday in peace, even for a duration of eight hours, should not be allowed to cast ballots for representatives. CJ Sivagnanam emphasized, "There were a few minor issues...bigotry on both sides."

The court encountered an unusual aspect in this case, wherein both parties argued that this was the first instance of violence during the Ram Navami celebration, and that there had never been any violence during the festival in the past.

It is said that a specific political party's member group started the altercations. The bench adjourned the hearing till April 26 saying, "Let the Advocate General give the status report; we will review the petitions on the following date.

Your free access to Supreme Law News has expired

Supreme Law News Premium

Why should you subscribe?

* Enjoy our website without interruptions from advertisements

* Receive daily newsletters

* Receive real-time Telegram/Whatsapp news updates

* Download original judgments / orders / notifications / circulars, etc

* Enjoy exclusive entry fees to the Simplified series. (Webinars, seminars, masterclasses, etc.)

( special offer)

Subscribe Now

For further details contact:

Dr. Ajay Kummar Pandey

( LLM, MBA, (UK), PhD, AIMA, AFAI, PHD Chamber, ICTC, PCI, FCC, DFC, PPL, MNP, BNI, ICJ (UK), WP, (UK), MLE, Harvard Square, London, CT, Blair Singer Institute, (USA), Dip. in International Crime, Leiden University, the Netherlands )

Advocate & Consultant Supreme Court of India, High Courts & Tribunals.