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Nayanar, Ponnuswamy cases beyond EC's jurisdiction

The Election Commission today held that it was not within its jurisdiction to take action against Kerala Chief Minister E K Nayanar and Minister of State for Petroleum E Ponnuswamy for alleged electoral offences and said that the aggrieved parties could seek legal intervention, if they so desired.

''The crux of the matter in both cases is that if anyone is alleging electoral offence, they can go to the appropriate court and seek legal remedy. The commission has no role to play in this. It is for the courts to decide,'' Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill told reporters in New Delhi.

Ponnuswamy had allegedly voted in Chidambaram parliamentary constituency, whereas he was registered as a voter in Chennai north. The Congress and the CPM petitioned the commission to take action against Ponnuswamy under section 136, D (1) of the Representation of the People Act, which prohibits anyone without due authority from supplying or receiving or being in receipt of a ballot paper.

In Nayanar's case, the Malayala Manorama newspaper and the United Democratic Front had complained that the chief minister had violated the secrecy of the ballot provided for in Section 128 of the RPA by displaying his ballot paper to photographers while voting in the Kannur parliamentary constituency in Kerala.

UNI

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