SHORT TAKES
KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 31
Senior Advocate Dinesh Tripathi filed a writ petition against the Election Commission for prohibiting people from campaigning against some candidates under the slogan 'no, not again'.
The EC recently warned such campaigners with punitive action as their campaign would be deemed hate speech, which was not allowed by the election code of conduct.
Tripathi arguedthat the EC decision violated citizens' constitutional freedom of expression. The petitioner argued that the EC decision prohibiting people from using slogan of 'no, not again' against any candidate was against the spirit of the constitution.
He said campaigning against any candidate in the election was not hate speech.
"Elections are legitimate actions and criminalising these actions is wrong," he argued.
Tripathi has also sought interim order against the polls panel. The first hearing of the case has been scheduled for Tuesday.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 1, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
