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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | EC can go ahead with probe against Ashok Chavan, says Bench

EC can go ahead with probe against Ashok Chavan, says Bench

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published Published on May 3, 2012   modified Modified on May 3, 2012

-PTI

Ensure that findings of the probe are kept in a sealed cover

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission to proceed with its probe into the authenticity of the former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan's spendings during the 2009 State Assembly elections, allegedly involving expenses on “paid news.”

A Bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and J. Chelameshwar, however, asked the Commission's counsel Meenakshi Arora to ensure that findings of the probe if completed were “kept in a sealed cover.”

The Bench passed the order on an application moved by the former State Minister, Madhav Kinhalkar, seeking a directive to the Commission to complete the probe before June 10 as the present Chief Election Commissioner, S.Y. Quraishi, is due to demit office by that date.

Acceding to the plea, the apex court said the EC could go ahead with the probe and the findings but these should not be made public.

The Bench further posted for hearing on Thursday the Special Leave Petition filed by Mr. Chavan challenging the Commission's jurisdiction to entertain the complaint of “paid news” against him.

On November 3, 2011 a three-judge Bench of Justices Altamas Kabir, S.S. Nijjar and J. Chelameswar temporarily halted the Commission from probing Mr. Chavan's poll account on his appeal against a Delhi High Court order, which had allowed the probe.

While staying the EC probe, the apex court also issued notices to the poll panel, the Maharashtra unit of the BJP and other complainants including Kinhalkar, BJP leaders Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Kirit Somaiyya on whose plea the probe was launched.

On September 30, the High Court gave the poll panel its green signal to go ahead with the probe into Mr. Chavan's poll account.

The EC had begun proceedings against Mr. Chavan on April 2, 2011 on the complaints, which alleged that he had shown to the Commission a poll expenditure of merely Rs. 11,000 despite paying money to various newspapers for favourable coverage of his election campaign.

Mr. Chavan challenged the EC probe against him saying that the Commission had no power to probe his account, but the High Court said the poll panel was well within its right to probe it.

While dismissing Mr. Chavan's plea against the poll panel's probe, the High Court said: “The Commission can go into the truthfulness or untruthfulness of the accounts filed by the elected candidates. The Commission has correctly appreciated and understood the law laid down therein and, therefore, we concur with the view expressed by it [EC].”

The High Court also dismissed a similar plea by the former Jharkhand Chief Minister, Madhu Koda, currently in judicial custody in Ranchi for his alleged role in a money laundering and corruption case. The EC had begun proceedings against him for his alleged failure to submit his detailed poll expense account in a 2009 by-election in which he was elected as Singhbhum MP.

The Hindu, 3 May, 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3377825.ece


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