Bench suo motu impleads EC; seeks details of number of parties

: Madras High Court Bench here today suo motu impleaded the Election Commission of India and sought details on the number of registered parties and the privileges enjoyed by them under Election rules.
Justice N Kirubakaran directed the union government's Assistant Solicitor General G R Swaminathan to get the instructions from the Election Commission.
The Judge also wanted to know the procedure to register a party, observing there are complaints that some political parties are misusing their status to blackmail officials and threaten people.
He was hearing a case filed by a councillor from Pudukottai municipality, seeking a direction to police to register a criminal case against Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar for having allegedly forced an aspirant to the post of municipality chairman to withdraw from the contest during the elections held last month.

Justice Kirubakaran had earlier directed petitioner's counsel to submit today relevant documents to prove that Desiya Makkal Sakthi, a political party with which the petitioner was reportedly associated, was registered with the EC.
Accordingly the petitioner submitted the documents today.

The judge also warned that the case would be dismissed with exemplary costs if such proof could not be submitted in court.
The interim order was passed after hearing Additional Advocate General K Chellapandian, who claimed that the petitioner had approached the court with an 'ulterior motive.'
However, petitioner M Karunakaran (46), claimed that AIADMK cadres, led by the Minister, had forced his party candidate Balakrishnan to withdraw from the contest.He alleged that the candidate as well as himself were taken to a hotel in the town and forced to accept Rs one lakh to stay away from contesting the election.

Though a complaint was lodged with police as well as the revenue authorities, they failed to initiate action, the Petitioner said.