The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Election Commission of India’s order revoking senior Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Kamal Nath’s star campaigner status in the upcoming by-polls in the state. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde questioned the poll body over its decision. “Where does EC have the power to determine who will be the leader of a party under Section 77 of Representation of People Act?” the bench asked.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Nath, said that an advisory was issued by the commission on October 26 following which the October 30 order came citing a complaint against the Congress leader over his October 13 speech, Sibal said the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister was not heard on the issue.
The order against Nath concerned two comments. He made a comment against chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan on October 13 and then on October 18, Nath had said at a rally in Gwalior that the Congress candidate was a simple man, unlike his opponent who is an ‘item’. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Imarti Devi from the Darba seat in Gwalior in the bye-elections.
The election regulatory body was represented by senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi who said that the matter had become infructuous as elections are due tomorrow and campaigning has ended.
“We are staying your order as you have no power to pass this order,” the bench said. The court directed EC to file its response to Nath’s petition that had argued that the selection of star campaigner under Section 77(1) of RP Act was the sole prerogative of the political party.
Congress had submitted a list of 28 star campaigners to the Election Commission for MP bye-elections on October 19.
