The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Tuesday said the Election Commission (EC) didn’t have the power to prevent religion and caste-based rallies or cancel the registration of political parties that organise them.

A division bench of Justices Rajan Roy and A.K. Chaudhary delivered the verdict while disposing of a public interest litigation filed in 2013 by Motilal Yadav, which had sought directions to curb caste-based rallies.

The bench said barring such rallies fell within the legislature’s jurisdiction.

“The EC can’t ban a political party if they hold religion or caste-based rallies,” the bench said while hearing Yadav’s PIL, which had requested action against parties organising such rallies under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

In its judgment, the bench observed that Section 8A of the Representation of the People Act is the only provision that permits disqualification in cases of electoral malpractice. It clarified that there is no provision in the existing law allowing a pre-emptive ban on a political party or an individual, and any such power can be conferred only by Parliament.

“There is only one rule available with the EC to disqualify a party or person and that is limited to the violation of the model code of conduct. Any further decision to ban a party for holding caste or religious rallies can be taken by the legislature only and not by the court. They have the right to enact a law against it,” the bench said.

Yadav had argued that the rallies also contravened an administrative order issued by the Uttar Pradesh government on September 21, 2025, banning caste-based political rallies on the ground that they harmed social unity.

The court said the petitioner could file a writ petition on how political parties had violated the order.

Caste-based political rallies are mostly organised by parties that derive their support from caste groups and have gained legitimacy after aligning with national parties.