Tamil Nadu: Theni court directs police to register cases against O Panneerselvam, son

THENI: The Theni special court for trial of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs on Friday directed the district crime branch (DCB) police to register cases and inquire into complaints against former chief minister and Bodinayakkanur MLA O Panneerselvam and his son and Theni MP O P Ravindranath Kumar that they had furnished false information in the affidavits filed for contesting the 2021 assembly and 2019 LS elections.
The court passed the order while hearing two complaints preferred by P Milany in the court. Judicial magistrate N Panneerselvam said the complaints had been filed for the alleged offence under Section 125-A of Representation of the People Act. In the complaint, it has been alleged that the accused people knowingly furnished false information regarding their properties, annual income, liabilities and education qualification in the affidavit filed along with their nomination papers.
The magistrate said that this case required further deliberation by way of police investigation in order to bring the entire truth and best evidence with regard to the facts alleged in the complaints. Besides, this case intrinsically assumes much public interest as this matter pertains to the constitutional process of election of MLA and MP.
"It is the anguish of every citizen that the nation is still fighting to conduct a fair election in terms of constitutional provisions. Therefore, we cannot set an example by making this complainant to prosecute these cases through private complaints. It is the duty of every government agency to take the responsibility of prosecution of cases of this nature," observed the magistrate.
The magistrate said that it is a well settled law that when the complaint is filed under Section 190 of CrPC, it is the prerogative of the magistrate to decide whether to proceed under Section.200 of CrPC (magistrate taking cognizance of a private complaint) or to give direction for police investigation, by taking into consideration the nature of each case.