The Supreme Court has breathed new life into a 26-year-old recommendation of the Election Commission asking Centre to make acts of bribing voters with cash, liquor or drugs during campaigns a cognisable offence.
A public interest litigation (PIL) petition alleged that black money is increasingly being used by candidates and parties to lure voters, and cash and liquor are distributed to influence voting. The petition, which was heard by the court, said this has destroyed the essence of free and fair elections.
It was back in 1992 that the Election Commission first recommended bribery to be a cognisable offence. Petitioner Kaka Rama Krishna, a former legislator from Andhra Pradesh, through advocate T Sudhakar, pointed out that former election commissioners have written repeated reminders but to no avail.
The Conduct of Election Rules has fixed a monetary cap on election expenditure: Rs 54 lakh to Rs 70 lakh for parliamentary constituencies, and Rs 20 lakh to Rs 28 lakh for Assembly constituencies. Any expenditure above this limit amounts to corrupt practice under Section 123(6) of the Representation of Peoples Act, and can result in a candidate's disqualification.
However, the petition argued that candidate keep two election accounts — one official account whose details are disclosed, and one that's unaccounted for. The latter account is used by candidates to bribe voters, the petition alleged.
On December 29, 2011, then CEC SY Qureshi wrote to the Centre, saying, "The commission is of the view that the relevant entry in the first schedule to the Code of Criminal Procedure may be amended urgently to make the offence of bribery under Section 171B/171E of IPC a cognisable one."
On February 15, 2013, then CEC S Sampath again took up the matter with the government. In his letter, he demanded to make bribery under Section 171B of the IPC as non-cognisable, so that police can lodge a complaint without waiting for a nod from the concerned magistrate.
AFTER 26 YEARS
- The EC had in 1992 first recommended bribery to be a cognisable offence.
- A PIL alleged that black money is increasingly being used to lure voters
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