Supreme Court refuses to hear Mayawati's plea against campaign ban, says EC has 'woken up' after action against 'hate speech'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed satisfaction over the Election Commission’s action against Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, BSP supremo Mayawati and others for making “hate speeches” during poll campaigns. [caption id=“attachment_5731831” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of the Supreme Court. AP[/caption] A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi also refused to consider the plea of Mayawati challenging the Election Commission’s 48-hour ban on the leader, asking her counsel to file a separate appeal against the poll panel’s order. Taking note of the Election Commission’s action, the court said it seems the poll panel has “woken up” and barred various politicians from poll campaigning for varying hours. The bench also comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna made it clear that no further order was required for now. Following the Supreme Court rap for the Election Commission, the poll panel on Monday afternoon took action against Adityanath, Mayawati, Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and Union minister Maneka Gandhi. The bench was hearing a PIL filed by an NRI yoga teacher based in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, seeking a direction to the Election Commission to take “strict action” against political parties if their spokespersons make remarks based on caste and religion in the run-up to general elections.