The Fact News Service
Mohali, April 15
Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer, Aashika Jain has ordered noise monitoring of the sound being used in the political rallies/campaigning during the elections.
Divulging the details, the Deputy Commissioner said that the loudspeakers are the most common and effective mode of campaign because of their loud sound and mobility.
She said that keeping in view its high decibel; loudspeakers have also become a serious menace to an environment that disturbs the peace of various sections of society like sick/infirm/old age people/students or household animals.
Striking a balance between the right of political parties to use it as a means of the election campaign on one hand and the right of general public on the other hand, the Election Commission of India already issued instructions that decibels of the sound generated by loudspeakers/amplifiers do not exceed the permissible limit as fixed under the relevant law/guidelines.
To abide by the instructions of the ECI, Er Vipan Kumar, Assistant Environmental Engineer, Punjab Pollution Control Board, has been deputed as the Nodal Officer to carry the noise monitoring during the Model Code of Conduct.
She said that the violators would have to face the action as per the provisions of the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000.
Read Also:- https://thefactnews.in/sc-issues-notice-to-ed-on-arvind-kejriwals-plea-against-arrest/
The Supreme Court issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a plea by Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal challenging his arrest by the agency and his subsequent remand in the excise policy case.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta refused to give an early hearing of the case as sought by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Kejriwal.
During the hearing, Singhvi urged the bench to give a short date for the hearing, preferably the coming Friday.The bench said, “We will give you a short date, but it is not possible to meet the date suggested by you.”
Singhvi said the arrest of Kejriwal was made to disable him from campaigning.The apex court posted the case for further hearing in the week commencing from April 29.
The bench, in its order, stated, “Issue notice. returnable on April 24. Notice is accepted by the respondent (ED), who is presented in court on caveat. Reply to be filed on or before April 24 and rejoinder (by Kejriwal) on or before April 27. Post-in week commencing April 29.”
Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal has approached the Supreme Court challenging a Delhi High Court judgment that dismissed his plea against arrest by the ED and his subsequent remand in the excise policy case.
While filing an appeal in the apex court, he contended that his arrest after the announcement of the general elections was “motivated by extraneous considerations.”.
The appeal stated that the sitting Chief Minister had been arrested in a “motivated manner” in the middle of the election cycle, especially after the declaration of the schedule of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
On April 9, the High Court dismissed his plea for release from jail and rejected his argument of political vendetta amid the looming Lok Sabha elections.
The High Court had said that Kejriwal’s absence from nine ED summons over six months undermined any claims of special privilege as Chief Minister, suggesting his arrest was an inevitable consequence of his non-cooperation.
Seeking urgent intervention from the Supreme Court, the Chief Minister’s appeal stated, it is an issue of illegal curtailment of Kejriwal’s liberty.
Kejriwal’s arrest also constitutes an unprecedented assault on the tenets of democracy based on free and fair elections and federalism, both of which form significant constituents of the basic structure of the Constitution, the appeal further stated.
The petition, while seeking the release of the Delhi Chief Minister from jail, said the ED has allowed its process to be used and misused by vested interests as an instrument of oppression to not only invade the liberty of the political opponents during the 2024 general election of such vested interests but also to tarnish their reputation and self-esteem.
