Poll symbol case: HC rejects bail plea of Dhinakaran aide

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the bail plea of Sukesh Chandrashekhar, an aide of AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran, in a bribery case related to poll symbol allocation by the Election Commission.

Justice Mukta Gupta, dismissing the bail plea, said: "... the allegations against the petitioner (Chandrashekhar) are serious in nature as there has been recovery for a sum of Rs 1.3 crore from his hotel room."

Also observing that he had used the forged identity card of a Rajya Sabha member and a forged sticker of Member of Parliament affixed on his Mercedes, the court said that this clearly gave Chandrashekhar entry to all sensitive areas, thereby compromising security.

Chandrashekar was arrested from a south Delhi hotel on April 16, 2017 allegedly with Rs 1.3 crore that was meant for bribing the poll panel members.

Chandrashekhar and Dhinakaran, who was sidelined in Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK, are accused of having tried to bribe Election Commission officials to get the "Two Leaves" poll symbol for the faction led by the latter's aunt V.K. Sasikala in the wake of the split in the AIADMK following the death of J. Jayalalithaa.

Dhinakaran was arrested on April 25 last year. He was granted bail on June 1, 2017.

The bribe amount is said to be of the order of Rs 50 crore.

The Delhi Police on July 14 last year chargesheeted Chandrashekhar for forgery and more.

Later, in December 2017, police filed a supplementary chargesheet in the case naming Dhinakaran, his long-time friend Mallikarjuna, alleged middleman Chandrashekhar and others as accused in the case.

Police said a criminal conspiracy was hatched by persons including Dhinakaran to bribe Election Commission officials.

--IANS

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