Supreme Court does not ban Jai Shri Ram's slogan in Bengal elections, find out what the judges said

New Delhi, 9 March 2021 Tuesday

The BJP won two important victories by the Supreme Court on Tuesday ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections.

The use of religious slogans is an offense under sections 123 (3) and 125 of the Representation of the People Act, said Manohar Lal Sharma, counsel for the apex court. Under these provisions, no candidate or person involved in the election process is allowed to provoke emotions in the name of religion, race, community or language.

The petition also named Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP leader Subhendu Adhikar and demanded that the CBI register a case against them. It also demanded that political parties be barred from using religious slogans. Chief Justice of India S.A. A three-judge bench headed by Bobde dismissed the petition and asked the petitioner to go to the High Court.

A bench of Justices S Bopanna and V V Ramasubramaniam, along with the Chief Justice, said, "In this case, the only way out is to go to the High Court with an election petition." The petition also questioned the decision to hold elections in eight phases in Bengal, Sharma said in the petition, adding that elections were being held in one phase in other states.

While elections are being held in 8 phases in Bengal, when the state is not facing any terrorist attack nor is it a troubled area, it is a violation of Article 14 (Right to Equality) of the Constitution of India. However, the Supreme Court judges did not hear Sharma's arguments and rejected the plea.