SEKAR REPORTER

Court News from Madras High Court

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee(Indian National Congress)Rep by its President K.SelvaperunthagaiSathyamurthy Bhavan,40, ThiruVaSalai,Chennai 600 002.

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
(Special Original Jurisdiction)
W.P. No. of 2024

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee
(Indian National Congress)
Rep by its President K.Selvaperunthagai
Sathyamurthy Bhavan,
40, ThiruVaSalai,
Chennai 600 002.

Residing at
B15, Tower Block, TNHB Officer Quarters,
Taylor Road, Kilpauk,
Chennai 600010. …Petitioner

                                                 -Vs-
  1. The Chief Electoral Officer,
    Election Commission of India,
    Fort St. George,
    Chennai – 600 009.
  2. The Chief Election Commissioner,
    Election Commission of India,
    Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road,
    New Delhi -110001. …Respondents

AFFIDAVIT OF THE PETITIONER
I, K.Selvaperunthagai, S/o.Kuppuswamy, Indian, aged about 64 Years, President of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (Indian National Congress), Sathyamurthy Bhavan, 40, Thiru Vi Ka Salai, Chennai 600 002, residing at B15, Tower Block, TNHB Officer Quarters, Taylor Road, Kilpauk, Chennai 600010 do hereby solemnly affirm and sincerely state as follows:
1. I am the Petitioner herein and as such I am well acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case. I submit that I am the President of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (Indian National Congress) and a Member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly representing Sriperumbudur Constituency. I submit that I was the Leader of the Congress Legislative Party in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly till February, 2024 and I am a practising lawyer and awell known Social Worker in the state of Tamil Nadu.

  1. I submit that as the State President of the Indian National Congress, it is my bounden duty to protect the integrity, sovereignty and democracy of this country.
  2. I submit that the people of India seem to believe that the Parliamentary Elections 2024 in the country is not conducted in a free and fair manner and the Election Commission of India is conducting the elections as per the wishes of the ruling party in the Centre. One of the reason behind such a belief is that just two days prior to the announcement of date of Parliamentary Elections 2024, two Election Commissioners were arbitrarily appointed by the Government of India by colourable exercise of power, in violation of the Judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India though the power of the Government to appoint Election Commissioners overriding the Supreme Court Judgment and this has been challenged in Supreme Court and the matter is sub-judice.
  3. I submit that free and fair election is the backbone of Indian democracy and a level playing field is necessary for all political parties in India for the proper participation by all the political parties in the election process. It is also equally important that the Election Commission of India should enable the citizens to exercise their franchise in a free and fair manner without any fear and undue influence whatsoever.
  4. I submit that the BJP, fearing the eminent loss this Parliamentary Elections 2024, has been trying to win the election by hook or crook and has been indulging in divisive campaign of Hindu Nationalism. In a public meeting in the State of Rajasthan on 21.04.2024, while addressing an election campaign, Mr. Modi, the Prime Minister of India, went a little too far even by his standardsand referred the Muslims of this country as “infiltrators” and as “those who have a large number of children” and claimed that the opposition’s victory would mean Hindus’ wealth going into Muslim’s hands. In this regard, it is humbly submitted that Muslims are India’s largest minority group, making up 14.2 per cent of the country’s population (according to the Census of 2011) whereas the Hindus form 79.8 per cent of the population.
  5. It is submitted that Mr. Modi, the Prime Minister of India, has further stated that “When they (Congress) were in power, they said that Muslims have the first rights to the wealth of the Nation. This means that they will distribute the wealth among those who have more children. They will distribute those among infiltrators. Should your hard-earned wealth be given to infiltrators? Do you approve it?” It is humbly submitted that since the year 2002 till this day, the only Modi guarantee has been to abuse Muslims and get votes.
  6. Further, in an election meeting held on 01.05.2024 in his Home State of Gujarat, Mr. Modi continuing his vitriolic attack on the Opposition Party, has stated as follows:
    “Recently, a Congress leader from abroad (a reference to Sam Pitroda) suggested a proposal where more than half of your inheritance will be taken away from you and given to the government. A 55% inheritance tax will be imposed. For example, if you have 10 acres of land and you want to hand it over to your children, half of it will be taken over by the government. Similarly, if you have two buffaloes and want to leave them for your children, one will be taken away by the government if the Congress is voted to power.”
  7. Similarly, in an election meeting held on 02.05.2024 Gujarat, once again with an aim to divert the Hindus against Congress, Mr. Modi has stated as follows:
    “INDIA alliance has asked Muslims to go for Vote Jihad. This has come from an educated family, not from a child coming out of a Madrasa. INDIA alliance is saying that all Muslims should get together and vote. The INDIA alliance has insulted democracy and the Constitution.”
    “They have a tacit understanding. On one hand, the INDIA alliance is trying to divide SC, ST, OBC and general categories and on the other, they are raising the slogan of Vote Jihad. This shows how dangerous their intentions are.”
  8. It is further submitted that, to gain the vote bank of Hindus, at an election rally in Surendranagar, Gujarat, Mr. Modi said, “Congress chief Kharge has made a very dangerous statement with malafide intentions. They (Congress) to create differences among devotees of Ram, Shiva so that they fight with each other. Even the Mughals could not break our traditions dating back thousands of years, but now Congress wants to break it?”
  9. I submit that Mr. Modi’s speeches have been replete with fabrications and abusive language aimed at discrediting the Congress Party’s manifesto and its credibility without any iota of truth. His irresponsible rhetoric not only veils the truth of unemployment that affecting 80% of the youth of our country, the alarming inflation that costs the under privileged and those living in poverty to lose their further purchasing power leading to unbearable debts, but also serves to deflect attention from pressing economic hardships faced by millions of our common citizens.
  10. I submit that Mr. Modi’s derogatory remarks about specific communities such as Muslims, including his recent comments regarding the mangal-sutra and birth rates among Muslims, are not only disrespectful but also shameful and treacherous as they fuel communal tensions and sow division among our people.
  11. I submit that the Prime Minister of our nation is entrusted with upholding the dignity of all its citizen but he has stooped so low so as to malign the fellow Indian citizen in total violation of the oath of office taken by him and havocking the unity of our nation. Such wrecking behaviour from the Prime Minister is deeply concerning and sets a dangerous precedent for our democracy. In fact, he is trying to create fear psychosis in the minds of the people and trying to whip up communal passions. He wants the Indian citizens to fight among themselves and shed blood in the streets of India to force the majority people to vote for BJP. Despite the above mentioned speech and statements were made within the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, the blatant disrespect of Muslims were targeted to all the Muslims residing all over India, thereby making the communal tensions that would arise from the same inclusive to the entirety of India. Moreover, the statements as such were targeted towards those victims residing all over the territory of India, including the state of Tamil Nadu.
  12. I submit that despite numerous complaints lodged with the Election Commission of India across the country urging action against Mr. Modi’s hate speech, it is disheartening to note that the Election Commission of India so far has issued only show cause notice to the BJP rather than directly addressing the individual culprit of hate speeches, Mr. Modi who is solely responsible for these inflammatory remarks, derogative and divisive speeches. This leniency of the ECI sends a wrong signal to the citizens and undermines the integrity of our nation’s whole electoral process.
  13. I submit that the Supreme Court in several landmark Judgments has directed the Election Commission of India to conduct free and fair elections without getting influenced by the Party in Power and the Election Commission of India to conduct the Parliament Election in a transparent manner without giving any scope of suspicion or allegations about the functioning of the Election Commission of India in conducting the General Elections.I submit that from 1947 to 2014 elections were held in India in a very free and fair manner and the conduct of the Election Commission in all these elections were very fair and appreciated not only by the citizens of India by also by the people all over the world.
  14. I submit that as per article 324 of the Constitution of India the Election Commission is vested with supreme authority during the general election time which is as follows:
    “The decisions taken by the Election Commission need to generate the trust of the people so that the sanctity of the democratic process is maintained. If the Election Commission starts showing any arbitrary decision-making, then the resultingsituation would not just create doubt on the members of the Election Commission of being biased but would create fear in the minds of the common citizens that the democratic process is being compromised. Therefore, the ElectionCommission needs to be independent and fully insulated from any external or internal disrupting environment.”
  15. I humbly submit that the Petitioner has also submitted a representation dated 01.05.2024 to the Chief Electoral Officer, Election Commission of India, Fort St. George, Chennai to take immediate and decisive action to curb Mr. Modi’s false, derogative statements and communal rhetoric but went in vain. Hence, having no other alternative efficacious remedy, the Petitioner is constrained to file this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India on the following among other.
    GROUNDS
    (a) Mr. Modi, the Prime Minister of India, who is expected to be neutral to all citizen of this country, is trying to create havoc and hatred among citizen.
    (b) Mr. Modi, the Prime Minister of India, who is entrusted with upholding the dignity of all its citizen, has stooped so low so as to malign the fellow Indian citizen in total violation of the oath of office taken by him and havocking the unity of our nation.
    (c) Mr. Modi’s making false and derogative statements against the Opposition Parties and creating communal rhetoric in the minds of citizen. It is submitted that although the above mentioned speech and statements were made within the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, the statements as such were targeted towards those victims residing all over the territory of India, including the state of Tamil Nadu.
    (d) Mr. Modi is solely responsible for his inflammatory remarks, derogative and divisive speeches but the Election Commission of India has miserably failed to prevent him from making such speeches.
    (e) Mr. Modi is speaking in a way to tarnish the image of the Opposition Parties and lower their image in the minds of the people, to gain vote bank for BJP.
    (f) Mr. Modi’s speeches have been replete with fabrications and abusive language aimed at discrediting the Congress Party’s manifesto and its credibility without any iota of truth.
    (g) Mr. Modi’s derogatory remarks about specific communities such as Muslims, including his recent comments regarding the mangal-sutra and birth rates among Muslims, are not only disrespectful but also shameful and treacherous as they fuel communal tensions and sow division among our people. These communal tensions are not exclusive to the States among which the Prime Minister, Mr. Modi has made these speeches, but rather, the blatant disrespect of Muslims were targeted to all the Muslims residing all over India.
    (h) Mr. Modi is trying to create fear psychosis in the minds of the people and trying to whip up communal passions. He wants Indian citizen among themselves to fight and shed blood in the streets of India to force the majority people to vote for BJP.
    It is, therefore, humbly prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to issue a Writ or order or direction in the nature of WRIT OF MANDAMUS directing the Respondents to consider the representation submitted by the Petitioner on 01.05.2024 and to issue notice to Mr. Narendra Modi calling for his explanation on the hatred speeches made by him on 21.04.2024, 01.05.2024 and 02.05.2024 to take immediate and decisive action to curb Mr. Modi’s false, derogative statements and communal rhetoric and consequently restrain him from making further misleading and derogative statements against Congress Election Manifesto and tarnishing the credibility of the Indian National Congress in order to ensure a level playing field for all the political parties to campaign in a free and fair mannerwithin a time frame as may be fixed by this Hon’ble Court and to pass such further or other orders as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case and thus render justice.

Solemnly affirmed at Chennai on this the … day of May 2024 and signed his name in my presence and identified by me. BEFORE ME

ADVOCATE – CHENNAI

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