PIL seeks action against Pawar for luring voters to vote twice

A petition in Bombay High Court has sought action against NCP Chief Sharad Pawar for luring voters to take advantage of phased schedule in Lok Sabha polls which concluded recently and vote first in Satara on April 17 and then in Mumbai on April 24 by removing the indelible ink.
The PIL, filed by activist Hemant Patil, is expected to come up for hearing for the first time on July 24.
The petition said that Pawar, in a public speech just before the Lok Sabha polls, had advised Mathadi workers from Agriculture Produce Market Committee market in Navi Mumbai to vote twice by taking advantage of the phased polling. Later, Pawar had clarified that his remarks were in lighter vein.

Such comments are, in effect, an advise to violate the Indian election laws that allow only one vote for one person, said the Pune-based petitioner.
The PIL said that Mathadi workers mostly hail from Satara in Western Maharashtra which is considered as a citadel of NCP.
The petitioner said he had made complaints to the Home Minister R R Patil, Pune Police Commissioner, Union Government and Election Commission of India against Pawar. But no action had been taken against the NCP leader so far, said the PIL.
The PIL also urged that the authorities may be asked to produce before the court a taped version of Pawar's speech.

A similar PIL filed by activist Praveen Wategaonkar was dismissed recently by the Bombay High Court which held that it would not interfere in the poll schedules fixed by the Election Commission.