Chennai: In the case involving the seizure of Rs. 4 crore during the parliamentary election, the Madras High Court has ordered a stay on the framing of charges against Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagendran and others.
During the 2024 parliamentary elections, Rs. 4 crore in cash was seized from the Nellai Express train, and it was alleged that the money was being transported to be distributed by Nainar Nagendran to voters in his constituency.
In this connection, the CBCID police registered a case against 13 people, including Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagendran, former state organizational general secretary of the Tamil Nadu BJP Keshava Vinayagam, and BJP functionary S.R. Sekar.
Following that, a charge sheet was filed against them in the George Town court in Chennai, and copies were served. Subsequently, the charges against all the accused were scheduled to be framed in the George Town court tomorrow (Aug. 12).
In this situation, S.R. Sekar has filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking to quash the case against him and requesting a stay on the court proceedings.
In it, he said, ‘The CBCID police have mechanically prepared the final report. The case against me has been registered based on the statements given by the two accused in the case, without sufficient evidence.
“The police did not file any legal evidence in court to prove that I carried money to give to voters. Therefore, the case should be dismissed,” he had stated.
This case came up for hearing before Judge Lakshmi Narayanan. Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Guru Krishnakumar argued, “The police have not filed any sufficient evidence in court to implicate the petitioner. Therefore, the final report filed against the petitioner should be quashed. Since the framing of charges is scheduled for tomorrow, it should be postponed until the trial is concluded.”
State Public Prosecutor John Sathyan, appearing on behalf of the police department, requested time to file a detailed response to the petition.
Following this, Judge Lakshmi Narayanan adjourned the hearing of the case to Aug. 19 and directed the police to file a counter-affidavit. He also noted that no charge-sheeting should be carried out until then.
