NEW DELHI, April 16 (Xinhua) -- India's Supreme Court Tuesday turned down a plea by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Chief Mayawati challenging a ban on her from campaigning for 48 hours by the country's election commission, officials said.
"It seems the Election Commission has woken up by our orders and barred various politicians from campaigning for varying timing. This makes it clear no further orders are required now," an official quoted bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi as having said.
The court's decision came in a petition seeking directions to Election Commission of India (ECI) to take action against political leaders making appeals for votes on the basis of religion and caste.
The court declined to give a hearing to Mayawati and asked her lawyer to file a separate petition if Mayawati seeks to challenge the order.
On Monday, ECI acted against India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Mayawati, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Maneka Gandhi and Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan over inappropriate comments and barred them from campaigning for a specified time.
The commission barred the leaders for violating the model code of conduct during elections by appealing to caste or communal feelings.
On Monday, the top court pulled up the ECI for not doing enough to curb hate speeches during campaigning of ongoing elections.
