Indian poll panel gags Amit Shah and Azam Khan

Election Commission has voiced serious concern over the “highly inflammatory” speeches made by Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah during the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh and directed the state government to ensure that they did not address any more meetings or hold any road shows.

The commission also told the state government to immediately file the necessary first information reports (FIRs) in this regard and initiate criminal proceedings against them if it has not already been done.

Using its powers under article 324 of the constitution and other laws, the commission said in a letter to the chief secretary of the Uttar Pradesh government that the district authorities should not grant any permission for holding any public meetings, public processions, rallies, road shows and so on where the two leaders are expected or likely to participate.

It told the state government to take all preventive measures against them under the relevant provisions of the law.

The commission said the state government must ensure that the two leaders did not commit any act of commission or omission that could affect public tranquility. Simultaneously, the commission has also written to the chief electoral officers of all states and union territories saying that such speeches had the potential to vitiate the peaceful, free and fair election process and that it was imperative on the part of district and State-level authorities to initiate prompt legal action without any delay in all such cases. The commission said it had taken a serious note of the fact that, in some cases, there was lack of prompt intervention and close follow-up.

Accordingly, it has issued instructions which the state authorities have to follow without any deviation.

These include close monitoring and video recording of all campaigns and maintenance of a daily record in this regard.

In case of any provocative and inflammatory speech by any campaigner, it shall be the responsibility of the district election officer (DEO) cum district magistrate and the superintendent of police (SP) of the district to initiate simultaneous measures under relevant laws. The commission said the organisers of rallies and public meetings should submit two copies of unedited CDs of the speeches made within six hours of the end of the meeting.

The tough stand taken by the commission followed a meeting that Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath and Election Commissioners H S Brahma and S N A Zaidi held here on Saturday to consider complaints against Shah and Khan.

The commission said the speeches made by the two leaders had, inter alia, promoted feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will and created disharmony between different religious communities and were also likely to disturb peace and public tranquility.

“These statements and public utterances by the aforementioned two political leaders are being made with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings and religious beliefs of different classes of citizens of India,” the letter said.

It said the impugned speeches and public utterances were not only violative of the provisions of the model code of conduct for political parties and candidates, but also constituted serious offences under various provisions of laws like the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act, apart from the relevant provisions of state laws.

The commission said it had already issued notices to Shah on April 7 and Khan on April 9 in this regard and their replies were awaited. It said that, despite these notices, Khan was still indulging in such violations of the Model Code and of statutory laws, and making derogatory and inflammatory statements, using intemperate language. The commission is in the process of issuing a further show cause notice to him in this regard, it said.

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• India