Supreme Court junks BJP plea against Calcutta High Court order on ‘derogatory ads’

New Delhi, May 27

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition of the BJP challenging the Calcutta High Court’s order restraining the party from publishing certain alleged derogatory advertisements against the TMC and its leaders during the Lok Sabha elections as they violated the poll conduct.

“This is not in the interest of voters. We are not inclined to interfere (with the high court’s order),” a Vacation Bench of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice KV Viswanathan told senior counsel PS Patwalia, who represented the BJP.

“We have seen the advertisements. Prima facie, the advertisements are disparaging,” Justice Viswanathan said even as Patwalia asserted that the advertisements were based on facts. As the Bench was not inclined to entertain the petition, Patwalia chose to withdraw the petition and it was “dismissed as withdrawn” with liberty to petitioner BJP to contest it before the high court. “Your rival is not your enemy,” the Bench noted. The top court had on Friday agreed to consider the BJP’s petition after it was mentioned before another Vacation Bench led by Justice Bela M Trivedi for urgent listing.