High Court issues notice to CBI on probe into RK Nagar by-elections

Madras High Court on Wednesday allowed Marudhu Ganesh, a DMK candidate, to amend his prayer and seek a CBI probe into the alleged bribery of voters that led to rescinding of by-polls in R K Nagar constituency in April 2017. The seat was represented by late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and by-elections were held after her death in December 2016.

The by-elections were rescinded by the Election Commission of India (ECI) following allegations of wide-spread use of money to bribe voters. A raid by the Income Tax department at the residence of Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar also led to recovery of incriminating documents that had details of money distribution planned by the ruling AIADMK.

Ganesh, the DMK candidate in 2017, had moved the High Court seeking registration of FIR against those accused of bribing voters during the polls. But he approached the court seeking to amend the prayer and demand a CBI probe into the allegations.

A bench of justices M Sathyanarayanan and R Hemalatha suitably amended the earlier prayer of Ganesh and issued notice to CBI asking it to reply by February 11.

Though the elections were rescinded in April, it was held in December the same year. AIADMK rebel T T V Dhinakaran won the elections defeating Ganesh who was fielded again by the DMK.