MADURAI: The police is the only machinery that can prosecute cases related to buying votes during elections. However, they are taking sides and are not prosecuting such cases, while expecting favours from political parties, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court said.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Arulraj and Rajagopal, booked by the Thiruvegampet police in Sivaganga for distributing money while seeking votes for Arulraj’s wife during a panchayat election. However, as the police did not take any steps to file the final report, the petitioners approached the court to quash the FIR. The petitioner’s counsel said the family members of the petitioners and de facto complainant resolved the issue after a compromise.
Hearing the petition, Justice B Pugalendhi said democracy is the basic principle of our Constitution and is considered to be the best system of administration. “Voters are being lured with money, food and prizes, among others. The amount recovered during every election is alarming, and it denotes that the very purpose and object of democracy is being defeated by the rich and powerful. This can be curtailed only through effective prosecution of those indulging in such activities,” the court said.
“This particular case cannot be quashed based on the compromise arrived at between the parties,” the judge said. The court suo motu impleaded the DGP (HoPF) as a party to the proceedings and directed him to furnish the details of number of cases registered for bribing of voters during the parliamentary elections in 2019 and 2024, the Assembly election in 2021 and the urban local body election in 2022 throughout the state. The details must also consist of the number of cases in which final reports were filed and the details of those cases which ended in conviction, the court stated.