Madras HC dismisses PIL based on allegations by Rahul Gandhi; imposes penalty on petitioner

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 10 (ANI): The Madras High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to clarify allegations of large-scale voter list manipulation in the 2024 General Elections.
The Court on Tuesday observed that the plea was "completely misconceived," lacking substantive evidence, and founded solely on political claims and counterclaims. It said the petition was vague, devoid of material particulars, and could not be a ground to compel the Election Commission to issue clarifications.
Dismissing the petition, the Court imposed costs of ₹1,00,000 on the petitioner, payable to the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority. It clarified, however, that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of the allegations, and the Election Commission was free to take its own decisions on the matter.
The allegations were earlier flagged by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi in a PowerPoint presentation.
On August 7, a press conference was held by Rahul Gandhi, where he claimed that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were "choreographed" by the EC to benefit the BJP, which he said appeared "immune to anti-incumbency."
Presenting Congress's research on voting in the Mahadevapura Assembly in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi had alleged "vote chori" (vote theft) of 1,00,250 votes.
Labelling Rahul Gandhi's claims as 'baseless", the Election Commission of India (ECI) had said that the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha was trying to "sensationalise" the issue instead of availing the legal processes.
The poll body, in a statement, said that Rahul Gandhi repeated a "tired" script."
The poll body had also asked Rahul Gandhi to sign the declaration by Chief Electoral Officers of Maharashtra and Karnataka or apologise for his "absurd" allegations.
Meanwhile, the Congress MP continues to maintain his claim. On Wednesday, while on tour of his constituency Rae Bareli the Lok Sabh LoP claimed that the slogan of 'vote chor, gaddi chhor' is being proven across the country, and the Congress party will continue to prove it again and again, in more dramatic ways,.
"The main slogan 'Vote chor, gaddi chhor' is being proven across the country. We will prove it again and again in more and more dramatic ways," the Congress leader said. (ANI)