Shirva police in Udupi district have registered a case against K. Jayaprakash Hegde, whom the Congress has declared as its candidate for Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency, and the administrative committee of Jaarandaya daivasthana at Shirva for violating the model code of conduct.
They have been accused of holding a public meeting at the daivasthana till 11.30 p.m. on March 26. The First Information Report has named Mr. Hegde as accused number 1 and the committee as accused number two.
The Kaup flying squad team member of the Election Commission Vincent Vinod D’Souza had complained to police in this regard.
The complainant said that when he visited the daivasthana at 12.30 a.m. on March 27 he found that the daivasthana did not have any programme connected with the “jatra” late on March 26. However, the management committee of the daivasthana, knowing that the model code of conduct was in force, held the meeting by involving Mr. Hegde, who is the probable candidate of the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections. Thus, there was an undue influence on people and they violated the model code of conduct.
The police registered the case under Section 171 H of Indian Penal Code and Section 3 (a) of the Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988 and Section 123 (2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
