Debar poll campaigners for not wearing masks, demands petition
The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice and sought response of the Centre and the Election Commission on a plea seeking to debar campaigners and candidates from campaigning in the upcoming assembly elections for repeatedly violating the mandatory guidelines issued by the poll panel in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The court listed the matter for further hearing on April 30.
Alleged violation didn't happen in Delhi: EC representative
The bench of the Delhi High Court consisted of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh. Advocate Sidhant Kumar, representing the poll panel, raised a preliminary objection on the maintainability of the petition and said neither the elections are being held in Delhi nor the alleged violation took place in Delhi. The Centre was represented through advocate Anurag Ahluwalia.
EC has mandated wearing of masks in election-related activities
The assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry are scheduled to be held in various phases, starting from March 27 and will conclude on April 29. Advocate Virag Gupta, representing petitioner Vikram Singh, said that while announcing the elections, the EC in its notification has mandated that every person shall wear a face mask during every election-related activity.
Media replete with photos, videos of campaigners without masks
The plea, filed through advocate Gaurav Pathak, said, "There are instances wherein campaigners and their supporters are not wearing masks while campaigning for elections, and photos and videos showing same are replete across electronic and print media and on many occasions shared by campaigners themselves."
The fundamental right of people is being impacted: Petition
The petition said that every person has the fundamental right to life, which is being impacted by political leaders, campaigners, and candidates not wearing masks during the election process. "Once the poll body has mandated the compulsory wearing of masks, everyone is duty-bound to ensure strict compliance of the same," it added.
Petitioner had sent a representation to EC on March 11
Accordingly, the petitioner sent a representation dated March 11, 2021, asking the EC to take strict action against star campaigners of different political parties to ensure that mandatory masking is effectively followed by one and all during the election period.
Failure to not wear mask invites penalty: Petitioner
The petitioner sought that the EC should debar such campaigners and candidates from campaigning in the election either permanently or for a stipulated, sufficiently long, period if they repeatedly violate the mandatory masking guidelines, it said. It added that the failure to not wear a mask invites penalty as well as criminal prosecution.
High and mighty getting away scot-free: Petitioner
The petitioner pointed out that on many occasions, it has been observed that the general public is arbitrarily penalized for non-wearing of masks, while the high and mighty get away scot-free.
EC is failing to implement its own directive: Petition
"As election rallies are attended by thousands of persons, even a single COVID-19 positive person can cause the event to become a super spreader," said the plea submitted, adding that the EC has issued the necessary directive but is failing to implement the same.
