THENI: A special court had directed the Theni police to register a case against former deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and his son OP Ravindranath for allegedly furnishing false information regarding immovable assets, agricultural properties, annual income, liabilities and education qualification in the affidavit filed during the nomination for the elections.
While Ravindranath filed the affidavit for contesting in the 2019 Parliamentary elections from Theni constituency, Panneerselvam filed the affidavit for the Assembly elections to contest from Bodinayakanur constituency.
A DMK functionary, Milani, filed a petition with the special court saying he was ready to produce the witness for the aforementioned allegations and sought for the court to order a police investigation into the case. He also sought protection, saying the accused are highly powerful politicians.
The complaint has been filed under Sections 190 and 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for the alleged offense under Section125-A of the Representation of Peoples Act (RP Act). The complainant alleged that the accused persons knowingly furnished false information regarding their immovable properties, annual income, loan and liabilities in the affidavit filed along with his nomination papers as per Sections 33 and 33-A of the RP Act.
The court observed that the case required further deliberation by way of police investigation in order to bring the entire truth and best evidence with regard to the facts alleged in the complaint. Besides, the case assumes much public interest as the matter pertains to the constitutional process of election of Member of Parliament. “It is the anguish of every citizen that the nation is still fighting to conduct a fair election in terms of constitutional provisions. Therefore, we can not set an example by making this complainant to prosecute this case through a private complaint. It is the duty for every government agency to take the responsibility of prosecution of cases of this nature,” said the court.
Further, when a complaint is filed under Section 190 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), it is the prerogative of the magistrate to decide whether to proceed under Section 200 of the CrPC or to give a direction for police investigation by taking into consideration the nature of each case.