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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | EC’s search and seizure illegal, says court

EC’s search and seizure illegal, says court

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published Published on Nov 10, 2012   modified Modified on Nov 10, 2012
-The Hindu

Commission’s powers under RP Act limited to candidates, agents

Ahmedabad:
In a stinging indictment, the Gujarat High Court on Friday called “unconstitutional” and “illegal” the searches and seizure of anything over Rs. 2.5 lakh (in cash and kind) from any car by static surveillance teams of the Election Commission.

Observing that the action was not only uncalled for as the names of Assembly election candidates had not even been announced, a Division Bench, headed by Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya, said it infringed on the personal liberty and privacy of a person guaranteed under Article 21.

Any search and seizure had to be carried out in accordance with the law, and “not the wishes of the EC.” Even the Criminal Procedure Code and the Income Tax Act did not permit such powers. “The EC can’t replace the Cr.PC and the I-T Act,” the court said. The powers given to the EC’s surveillance teams are “alien to our legal and constitutional system.”

The EC’s powers under the Representation of the People Act were limited only to candidates or their agents, and could be exercised only after the notification under Section 15 of the Act was issued and the nomination process commenced, the court said on petitions filed by an NGO, Bhagyodaya Jan Parishad, and a host of trade bodies.

The Hindu, 10 November, 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/ecs-search-and-seizure-illegal-says-court/article4083669.ece


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