Declining to curtail the Election Commission's powers to prevent distribution of money to voters, the Madras High Court on Friday directed that the standard procedure for dealing with unaccounted cash and other valuables be followed and that such operations be videographed.
Any direction to the authorities to record reasons for searches and seizures would defeat their very purpose and amount to curbing the Commission's powers, observed the First Bench, comprising Chief Justice M.Y. Eqbal and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam.
The court's observations came amidst strident remarks by DMK leaders against the EC's strict implementation of measures to monitor election spending. The court also directed that “for curbing large-scale crimes, extraordinary security measures should be taken till the election results are announced, and the safety and security of the flying squads shall be taken care of”.
The Bench also made it clear that in the case of individual officers, about whom the Election Commission had passed “unilateral orders”, its perception about them shall not form part of their service records.
