Evident That Voters' Personal Details May Have Been Obtained By BJP & Put To Use For Campaign Purposes: Madras High Court

Observing that personal details of voters and citizens may have been obtained by the Puducherry unit of BJP, and put to use for campaign purposes, the Madras High Court on Friday (26th March) directed Election Commission to file a status indicating the steps taken by it in the matter (on 31st March). The Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy specifically observed, "It is apparent that the sixth respondent political party (BJP, Puducherry) may have resorted to a form of campaigning not permissible under the model code of conduct." The Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation petition filed alleging that the Puducherry unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has misused Aadhaar details of voters for election campaigning purposes.On 24th MarcH, calling it a matter of 'serious nature', the bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy had sternly remarked,"It will not do for the Election Commission to pass the buck in this case and say that the cybercrimes division is conducting an investigation." Calling for a report from the Election Commission regarding this matter, the Madras High Court had also said,"When the Election Commission is up and about in all other matters and asserts its primacy and authority, it has to look into this allegation immediately and with the degree of seriousness that it deserves.""Don't Pass The Buck, Look Into Allegations": Madras High Court To Election Commission On Plea Alleges BJP Targeting Voters Via Aadhaar DataCourt proceedings on 26th MarchThe Court termed it 'unfortunate' that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) rather than trying to ascertain how the personal details of voters may have been leaked from its system, accused the petitioner of not having brought the matter to the notice of the relevant authority. Further, noting that the Election Commission brought the matter to the notice of the seventh respondent (UIDAI), the Court directed UIDAI to immediately ascertain how such material could have been accessed by a particular political party. The Court also noted that the Election Commission issued a notice on March 25, 2021, a day after the writ petition was entertained by this Court, asking all political parties to adhere to the model code of conduct in the sense that no bulk messages should be sent in the Union Territory of Puducherry without obtaining pre-certification from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Puducherry. The ECI also submitted before the Court that following a complaint regarding BJP's act of sending bulk messages to voters, it had already issued a show-cause notice to the BJP unit on 07th and further, a report was also given to the Cyber Crime unit, which was investigating the case.Significantly, the ECI also submitted that it had to await the outcome of the investigation undertaken by the Cyber Crime Cell and sought to present a preliminary report of the investigation. To this, the Court observed that it was not relevant to look into any preliminary report on the investigation, though it hoped that the investigation would be completed as expeditiously as possible and immediate appropriate action taken in accordance with the law. Also, regarding the submission of the petitioner that the SMS messages continue unabated on the same lines as complained of, the Court remarked, "It is for the Election Commission to take immediate action if such is the case" "It is also hoped that appropriate steps would be taken in furtherance of the letter dated March 7, 2021, issued to the relevant political party by the nodal officer", the Court added. As reported by PTI, when the ECI assured the Court that it would take appropriate action in the matter and till then the plea be kept pending, the Court asked the Election Commission if the April 6 polls in the Union Territory could be deferred till completion of the probe.The Bench remarked, "Wondering whether we should postpone the upcoming elections, let us postpone the elections until some action is taken by the Commission." To this, the commission submitted that polls cannot be deferred on mere allegations but informed the court that a show-cause notice has been issued to the BJP.Lastly, when the petitioner prayed that in the course of the investigation he is being harassed, the Court reminded the investigating agency of its duties. The plea before the Court The plea has been filed by A. Anand, President of the Puducherry State Committee of the Democratic Youth Federation of India. The plea alleges that the Puducherry BJP Unit has gained unauthorized access to the personal data of the residents of Union Territory of Puducherry from the Aadhar UIDAI database and is illegally using the data for its own political mileage. Significantly, the plea states that the petitioner as well as other Puducherry citizens received messages on their...

Evident That Voters' Personal Details May Have Been Obtained By BJP & Put To Use For Campaign Purposes: Madras High Court

Sparsh Upadhyay

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