The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine a plea alleging growing use of cash for votes in Tamil Nadu.
The top court asked the Election Commission to go through the petition as it put the matter for consideration on April 22.
The petition filed by K K Ramesh referred to the recent Income Tax raids conducted in the premises of DMK leaders in Vellore district, where a huge cash haul was seized.
He claimed the act of buying votes in such a manner denied "an equal voice for some voters and an equal chance for some candidates”.
A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna asked Ramesh to serve a copy of his petition to the Election Commission's counsel, Amit Sharma, who, in turn, take instructions to assist the court on next date of hearing.
The petition claimed that over Rs 11 crore in cash was seized at a cement godown in Vellore. The warehouse is alleged to be that of a DMK functionary. The Vellore incident confirmed EC’s worst fears about the influence of money in Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu.
The petition cited reports that stated so far Rs 78.12 crore has been seized and more than Rs. 10,000 crore could be “pumped in” into the State. It said all the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have been designated as “expenditure sensitive”.
The plea sought a direction to the EC to increase flying squads. It also contended in case of cancellation of polls, the expenditure should be recovered from the candidate.
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