BJP moves Supreme Court against Calcutta HC order restraining derogatory ads about Trinamool

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday moved the Supreme Court against a Calcutta High Court order restricting it from publishing derogatory advertisements about the Trinamool Congress amid the Lok Sabha elections, Bar and Bench reported.

On May 20, the High Court restrained the BJP from publishing such advertisements on a petition by the Trinamool Congress seeking an injunction against the Hindutva party.

A day later, the BJP filed an appeal against the High Court’s judgement before a division bench, stating that the single-judge bench did not hear it before passing the order.

The division bench on Wednesday refused to interfere with the single-judge bench order.

On Thursday, the BJP approached the Supreme Court seeking an urgent hearing in the matter. Representing the party, Senior Advocate Saurabh Mishra stated an “ex-parte” order, which will remain in force till June 4, was passed against the BJP.

An “ex-parte” order is one passed against a defendant in their absence.

Trinamool Congress’ plea

The Trinamool Congress had alleged in its petition before the High Court that one of the advertisements by the BJP labelled the Opposition party as “Sanatan Virodhi Trinamool [anti-Sanatan Trinamool]”. Sanatana Dharma is a term some people use as a synonym for Hinduism.

The ruling party in West Bengal also contended that it had filed a complaint with the Election Commission but no action was taken by the...

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