According to Madras HC, a cash seizure does not disqualify an election candidate

The money found on Nainar Nagendran’s associates’ person or property, according to the Madras High Court on Thursday, does not justify excluding him from the race.

While addressing a plea filed by independent candidate Raghavan to disqualify Congress candidates Robert Bruce and Nagendran, Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice J Sathya Narayana Prasad made the statement.

The petitioner said that although Rs 28.5 lakh was taken from the DMK’s Tirunelveli east district secretary’s office, Rs 3.99 crore was taken from individuals and properties connected to Nainar Nagendran.

The petitioner claimed that since the money was intended to buy votes, Bruce and Nagendran would not be allowed to run for office.

In his appearance on behalf of the ECI, advocate Niranjan Rajagopalan said that a criminal complaint had been filed and an investigation was underway. He said that depending on the investigation’s findings, further steps would be taken.

Given the size of the sum involved, he said, the Income Tax department was also made aware of the situation. The court decided the petition after taking note of the arguments.

The BJP’s nominee for the Tirunelveli Lok Sabha seat is Nagendran.

Three persons who were purportedly connected to him had Rs 3.9 crore taken from them aboard a train that was traveling to Tirunelveli on April 7. Nagendran has denied any connection to those who were arrested.

Concurrently, the court denied a second petition that sought to cross-verify the votes cast using electronic voting machines (EVM) with the Voter Verification Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). The court said that the matter was previously known to the Supreme Court. F Camilus Selva filed the petition.