Before the seventh phase of voting, BJP got a shock from SC, petition filed against HC order rejected

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider the BJP's petition challenging the Calcutta High Court order.

The single-judge judgment of the Calcutta High Court restrained the BJP from releasing advertisements allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct during the Lok Sabha elections, in which the vacation bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice KV Vishwanathan refused to intervene. “Prima facie, the advertisement is defamatory,” the bench said.

After the bench expressed reluctance to consider the matter, senior advocate PS Patwalia, appearing for the BJP, sought permission to withdraw the matter. After this, the case was dismissed as withdrawn.

On May 22, a division bench of the high court had said it was not inclined to entertain an appeal against the interim order passed by a single-judge bench.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was ordered by a single-judge bench on May 20 to refrain from releasing any advertisements that go against the model code of conduct until June 4, which is the day the results of the Lok Sabha election are supposed to be announced.

Additionally, the court ordered the BJP to refrain from releasing the advertisements referenced in the West Bengal petition filed by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), which claimed that the accusations made against it and its employees were unfounded.