New Delhi, July 22: The Supreme Court has dismissed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) that sought directives for the Election Commission of India (ECI) to allow arrested political leaders to campaign through virtual conferences. The petition was deemed to have “malafide intentions” by the Court.
Previously, the Delhi High Court, led by Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora, had dismissed the same petition, calling it a highly adventurous plea that contradicted fundamental legal principles. Following this, the SLP was filed before the Supreme Court.
The Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that the petition primarily focused on one individual, implicitly referring to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had been recently arrested. The Court remarked that Kejriwal, supported by a team of lawyers, did not require such a petition.
The Court expressed willingness to consider the broader legal question in a suitable case, but not under the present circumstances. Senior Advocate CU Singh, representing the petitioner, emphasised the issue’s significance, to which the Court responded positively regarding future appropriate cases.
In its order, the Court stated that the petition appeared to be advocating for an individual rather than the public at large. Therefore, it did not find it necessary to entertain the SLP. The petition was filed by a final-year law student, who argued that the arrest of politicians, particularly Arvind Kejriwal, post the announcement of the model code of conduct by the ECI, deprived electors of their right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The student proposed that arrested leaders should be allowed to campaign virtually under court-imposed restrictions.
Ultimately, the Supreme Court disposed of the SLP, leaving the question of law open for future determination.
