“Why should we interfere? The advertisements are disparaging…”: Supreme Court Rejects BJP's Petition against Calcutta HC Order on “Derogatory” Election Ads

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a petition filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) challenging a Calcutta High Court order. The High Court with a single-judge decision directed the BJP not to publish any advertisements that violated the Model Code of Conduct during the Lok Sabha election. "Prima facie, the advertisement is disparaging," said the apex court and refused to intervene.

"Why should we interfere? We have seen the advertisements and they are offensive," noted the Supreme Court. The bench, comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and KV Viswanathan, added, "You can always say you are the best, but we don't want to lend our hands to promote further acrimony. Your rival is not your enemy."

The petition was dismissed as withdrawn, allowing the BJP to approach the High Court again. The Calcutta High Court had previously ruled that the BJP could not publish derogatory advertisements against the TMC, especially during the 'silence period'.

Earlier this month, the BJP published at least four advertisements in vernacular dailies, portraying the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) as corrupt and anti-Hindu, and claiming that women were unsafe under the current regime. The TMC filed multiple complaints with the Election Commission (EC) and, after alleging inaction by the poll body, moved to the High Court. The Calcutta High Court criticized the EC for its “gross failure” to address complaints about the “derogatory” advertisements published by the BJP against the TMC and restrained the opposition party from distributing materials that violated the MCC.

Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya remarked, “The EC has grossly failed to address the complaints raised by the petitioner in due time. This court is surprised that no resolution worth the name has been arrived at regarding the complaints till date, more so because most of the phases of the elections are over.” The judge also criticized the EC for its failure to address the TMC's complaints in a timely manner, stating that a resolution after the elections would be meaningless: "This court is surprised that resolution of the complaints after the conclusion of elections is nothing to the court and as such, in due failure on part of the ECI in due time this court is constrained to pass an injunction order."

On May 22, a division bench of the High Court upheld the single-judge order, emphasizing that political parties should adhere to a "laxman rekha" and avoid personal attacks. Following this decision, the BJP moved to the Supreme Court on May 24.​