Delhi High Court Closes PIL Against AAP's 'Spam' Calls On Freebies Amid Assembly Polls, Asks ECI To Ensure No Use Of Vilifying Material

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Election Commission of India to ensure that political parties and their candidates do not use any vilifying material during elections which vitiates the atmosphere. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela disposed of a PIL alleging that the Aam Aadmi Party was making “spam calls” on a daily basis to the public to publicise “freebies” and to disseminate hatred, biases and vilifying material in the wake of upcoming Assembly polls. He also told the Court that guidelines have been issued by ECI mandating that political Kumar said that as and when the report of the Chief Election Officer is received, appropriate action will be taken. “We thus dispose of the PIL taking note of the action taken by the ECI on the complaint of the petitioners as also the provision contained in the handbook issued by ECI with further hope and trust that appropriate action under law shall be taken on the complaint but also for ensuring that political parties and their candidates are checked not to use any vilifying material during election campaigns,” the Court said.