SHILLONG, FEB 14: The ruling Congress today sought immediate ban on the circulation of the BJP’s chargesheet against the Congress released by the Union Tourism Minister KJ Alphons as it fails to meet legal requirements under Representation of People Act, 1951.
In a complaint to the state’s chief electoral officer FR Kharkongor on Wednesday, Shillong MP Vincent Pala said, “…as a prima facie case has been made out, ban the circulation of said document and also seize the copies of the same, to ensure free and fair elections in the state of Meghalaya, failing which the objectionable material would cause irreversible damage to the electoral propects of our party if the offenders are not brought to book.”
Pala, who is also the MPCC working president, also demanded that the matter should be investigated under section 127 A of the Representation of People Act, 1951, which restricts on printing of pamphlets, posters etc.
The Bharatiya Janata Party had recently released the chargesheet against Congress – “15 years of Loot, 15 years of destruction” which exposed the alleged wrong doings and scams by the Congress in the state.
Terming the BJP’s chargesheet as false, malicious and damaging, Pala said that the document could not have been put out for distribution and dissemination without mentioning the name and address of the printer, as well as the publisher.
As per the Act, it has clearly stated that “No person shall print or publish, or cause to be printed or published, any election pamphlet or poster which does not bear on its face the names and addresses of the printer and the publisher thereof.”
“Further, we are unable to verify whether the other legal requirements such as the declaration by the publisher in the proforma set out in Annexure A of S. 127A of the RP Act, 1951 and identified by two persons known to him were fulfilled and sent to the CEO,” he said.
By Our Reporter
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