EC bribery case: Court asks why no action against Dhinakaran

A special court today grilled Delhi Police asking it why no action has been taken against AIADMK faction leader T T V Dhinakaran when all allegations in the Election Commission bribery case were "against him".
"What is the position of the main accused... What action has been taken against Dhinakaran. Why are you not taking action against him? The whole allegations are against him. Show me the call details where it shows Sukesh Chandrashekar (arrested accused) talked to Dhinakaran," Special Judge Poonam Chaudhry asked the police.
Holding that the entire allegations in the FIR in the case was against Dhinakaran, he asked the police to show the call details records showing that alleged middleman Chandrashekar, arrested in the case, was in touch with the politician.

The court extended by three days the police custody of Chandrashekar, who was arrested on April 16 for allegedly striking a deal of Rs 50 crore to help the AIADMK (Amma) faction keep the 'two leaves' poll symbol.
The court allowed Delhi Police Crime Branch to quiz Chandrashekar till April 28 observing that the allegations against him were of a grave nature and there was a conspiracy to "undermine the sanctity of the electoral process through corrupt means".
"In my view, the intention was to commit the crime at a high place and the investigating officer may require more time to collect evidence.

"There exist adequate grounds for extending the police custody as the allegations are of grave nature as the conspiracy was to undermine the sanctity of electoral process through corrupt means," the judge said.

The police, which produced Chandrashekar before the court on expiry of his eight-day custody, sought extension of his custody by five days saying they have to unearth the money trail and to confront him with some 'hawala' operators.
Advocates Maheen Pradhan and Ashwini Kumar, appearing for Chandrashekar, opposed police's plea to extend the custody, saying the allegation in the FIR was that Chandrashekar had conspired with Dhinakaran, who has not yet been arrested.

The defence counsel said there cannot be a different criterion for the accused in the same case, as while Chandrashekar has been under arrest for nine days, police has not taken any action against Dhinakaran.
To this, the court asked the police what action they have taken against Dhinakaran and where are the call details of the accused as the investigators are relying on them.
Prosecutor Balbir Singh said Dhinakaran was joining the investigation and was being questioned for the last four days and he was being questioned today also.
"Dhinakaran has equal role and when he will be arrested, we will bring him before this court. It is a sensitive case and several stakeholders are involved. Chandrashekar collected money through hawala channels, posing as a member of Parliament, from one Shah Faizal. He has identified the accused," prosecutor told the court.

He said three 'hawala' operators have been brought in the picture and they were being questioned. The allegations were "well-founded" against the accused that corrupt means were adopted to influence public servants.
The prosecutor said the circumtances at the time of arrest of Chandrashekar were different as he was arrested a day before the by-poll scheduled to take place on April 17. The poll was later cancelled by the Election Commission.
Dhinakaran, who was yesterday grilled by the police for almost seven hours, has reportedly confessed to meeting Chandrasekhar, but said he did not pay any money to him for retaining the symbol.

The case pertains to an alleged attempt to bribe an Election Commission (EC) official by AIADMK (Amma) leader Dhinakaran to try to get the party's poll symbol of 'two leaves' for a by-election to the R K Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu. The polling was later cancelled by the EC.
Chandrashekar was arrested on April 16 after which an FIR was lodged. According to the police, his links with EC officials was being probed.
Chandrashekar had allegedly struck a deal for Rs 50 crore to help the AIADMK faction to keep the symbol, the police alleged, adding that Rs 1.3 crore and two luxury cars, a BMW and a Mercedes, were recovered from him.

The EC had frozen AIADMK's 'two leaves' symbol after two factions led by Sasikala and former chief minister O Panneerselvam staked claim to it.