The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider listing on Monday the BJP’s plea challenging a Calcutta High Court verdict that restrained the party till July 4 or “until further orders” from carrying out media advertisements against the Trinamool Congress in the run-up to the general election.

“Let’s see,” a vacation bench headed by Justice Bela M. Trivedi told advocate Saurabh Mishra who sought an “urgent hearing” of the special leave petition (SLP) filed by the BJP against the impugned orders passed by a single judge on May 2 and subsequently upheld by a division bench on May 22.

The bench which included Justice Pankaj Mithal initially asked Mishra to mention the matter on Monday before the next vacation bench, but upon insistence of the counsel that the matter required urgent listing, Justice Bela agreed to consider the plea for listing on Monday.

The petition filed through advocate Siddhesh Shirish Kotawal complained that the high court had passed the concurrent ex parte orders restraining the BJP from carrying out advertisements without hearing the party and also went “beyond the prayer sought by the All-India Trinamool Congress which was limited only to the grant of interim order directing ECI to take steps in accordance with law”.

Moreover, the petition said, the single judge erred by granting an interim injunction based on the purported violation of the model code of conduct (MCC) without taking into consideration that the issue was pending before
the Election Commission of India.