The Supreme Court on Tuesday verbally observed that political parties must foster fraternity and adhere to constitutional morality, reported Live Law.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices BV Nagarathna and Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a writ petition seeking guidelines to prevent “constitutionally unbecoming” speeches by government representatives.
The plea was filed by a group of 12 citizens, including former civil servants, diplomats, academicians and members of civil society.
It came against the backdrop of recent speeches by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and a now-deleted social media post by the BJP’s Assam unit. The post contained a video depicting Sarma symbolically firing at images of two Muslim men at close range.
During the hearing, Kant observed that the petition appeared to be “definitely targeted against a particular individual” as it referred only to Sarma’s speeches, Live Law reported. He held that some individuals had been “chosen selectively”, “conveniently ignoring others”.
“This is not acceptable,” Live Law quoted Kant as saying. “They [the petitioners] should be fair.”
Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, clarified that no specific relief was being sought against Sarma and said references to him would be deleted.
He also urged the court to examine the broader constitutional issue, the legal news outlet reported.
“We need to do something,” Live Law quoted Sibal as saying. “This is becoming very...
Read more
-
Look: UAE's faithful offer first Taraweeh prayers on eve of Ramadan
-
Bradley Walsh halts The Chase as he slams contestant for 'ridiculous' answer
-
Tata Nexon beats Brezza and Venue to become number one in sales, see sales report here.
-
Bengal SIR: ECI suspends three micro-observers for dereliction of duty
-
'Sky not the limit': Rajnath Singh on India-France partnership
