Will act after police investigation is complete: ECI on money seizure in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday told the Madras High Court that it would decide on the further of action on the seizure of Rs 4 crore allegedly from a relative of Tirunelveli BJP candidate Nainar Nagendran after completion of investigation by the Tamil Nadu police.

A division bench of Chief Justice S V Gangapurwala and Justice Sathya Narayana Prasad recorded the submission of the ECI.

The court was hearing a petition filed by an independent candidate in Tirunelveli, C M Raghavan, who sought Nagendran’s disqualification from the contest contending that the seized money belonged to him.

He had also sought the disqualification of Congress candidate Robert Bruce as about Rs 29 lakh was recovered from a DMK functionary in the constituency. 

Not heeding to the petitioner’s request to fix a time limit for the ECI to act on the case, the bench opined that the agency has to wait for the police to complete their investigation. 

The court observation comes three days after the Tamil Nadu Police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against three persons in connection with the seizure of the money on April 6.

The Tambaram Police have named Sathish, Nainar’s relative and a BJP worker who also works in a hotel managed by him, Perumal, and Naveen in the FIR which says a search team went to the A1 coach of Nellai Express bound for Tirunelveli on April 6 based on an input that they were carrying huge amount of cash. 

“We took the trio to the Tambaram police station and found Rs 3.98 crore from the suitcases which they carried with them. Sathish, during interrogation, said the money was handed over to them by one Jaishankar. He said it was meant to be distributed among voters in Tirunelveli,” the FIR reads.