Election Commission's Ban On Political Advertisements In Delhi Metro During Model Code Valid: Delhi High Court
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The Delhi High Court has upheld the Election Commission of India's (ECI) directions prohibiting political advertisements in Delhi Metro trains and stations during the operation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
A Division Bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora held that the restriction is reasonable, serves the larger public interest of free and fair elections and does not violate the advertisers' fundamental rights.
It thus dismissed an appeal filed by advertising agencies which held long-term advertising licences with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
Appellants contended that the Election Commission's 2019 direction requiring DMRC to insert a clause prohibiting political advertisements during the MCC was arbitrary, discriminatory and violated their rights under Articles 14 and 19(1)(a) and (g) of the Constitution.
Election Commission on the other hand defended the restriction, submitting that the impugned directions were issued in exercise of its plenary powers under Article 324 of the Constitution to ensure a level playing field during elections.
DMRC submitted that, as a public sector undertaking, it was bound to comply with the Commission's directions.
Rejecting the challenge, the High Court agreed with the Single Judge's view that the appellants' commercial interests could not override the larger public interest of conducting free and fair elections.
“There is no total restriction put on the Appellants in carrying out their business. They are free to display advertisements that are not political in nature, even during operation of the MCC. Ban on display of political advertisements, that too for a limited time, does not mean that the Appellants have been restricted from displaying any advertisements. As such, the plea that there is a violation of Article 19(1) (a) and (g) of the Constitution of India, is unmerited,” it observed.
The Court also rejected Appellant's contention that the ban was discriminatory since political advertisements continued to be permitted at bus queue shelters and similar locations.
It held that unlike bus shelters, metro stations and trains are exclusively identified with the government, making the classification reasonable. The Bench further observed that the appellants were in effect seeking "negative equality", which cannot be granted.
As such, the Court dismissed the appeal.
Appearance: For the Appellants : Mr.Ashish Mohan, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Akshit Mago and Mr Auritro Mukherjee, Advocates. For the Respondents : Mr. Sanjay Vashishtha, SC for Election Commission of India with Mr Siddhartha Goswami, Mr Krish Bhatia, Mr Aditya Sachdeva, Advocates. Mr. Devvrat Yadav, Advocate for UOI. Mr. Tarun Johri, Mr. Ankur Gupta and Mr. Vishwajeet Tyagi Advocates for R3/DMRC
Case title: M/S EG Communications Pvt Ltd & Ors v. ECI
Case no.: LPA 16/2020