News and Views

On Tuesday, as over 18 crore Indians go to polls in over 2 lakh booths across 117 constituencies spread over 14 states and Union territories in phase 3 of Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has been running 600 ads on Facebook targeted at those voting today.

This not only amounts to a direct violation of the mandatory 48-hour ‘silence period’according to section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, but also illustrates the toothless nature of the “Code of Ethics” that social media platforms like Facebook and the Election commission had announced on 20 March.

The 600 active ads – all running as video GIFs – consist of a variety of election manifesto promises from the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), fighting terrorism, to increasing jobs, access to drinking water, and pipe gas connections among others.

According to Facebook’s weekly political ads report, the BJP was the highest spender on election ads last week, having spent Rs 44 lakh between 14 and 20 April.

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A special hearing was convened by the Supreme Court on Saturday, 20 April, over safeguarding the independence of the judiciary following a complaint of sexual harassment against the Chief Justice of India (CJI).

Undoubtedly, the matter required urgent attention but the court hereon has to be cautious not to proceed with the presumption that the complaint is false. It is not whether the allegations are true or false, but the impartiality with which the court proceeds will cement the faith of the people in the judiciary.

The bench, presided over by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, did not issue any specific direction, but the hearing on the judicial side clearly seemed unwarranted. The hearing purportedly for preserving the independence of judiciary was based on the presumption that the complaint was false. Or at least it seemed to be so, with the proceedings maligning the alleged victim and her family members who were not represented.

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In case you missed it, a woman came forward with sexual harassment allegations against a powerful man, which included testimony about having dealt with intimidation tactics and criminal charges for months. Would you like to venture a guess as to who got vilified in the Supreme Court of India today? Who out of the two was publicly decried for threatening the sanctity of the institution?

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