HC order police not to collect details of voters

CHENNAI: Madras High Court today ordered Tamil Nadu Police not to collect booth wise details of voters who exercised their option not vote under Rule 49-O of the Conduct of Election Rules in April 13 Tamil Nadu assembly polls.A division bench comprising Chief Justice M Y Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam gave the order following a PIL filed by S Sathiachandran seeking to forebear police officials from collecting personal details and "harassing" the electors who exercised such option.The petitioner submitted that police has "unleashed an unsustainable imagination" that those who had opted the 49-O option could have links with Naxalites, who are branded as violaters of the law.Police is said to have collected the personal particulars of those electors who opted to exercise their right under 49-O and are questioning them suspecting that they were violaters of the law."This is not wholly mischievious but also illegal", the petitioner said.The petitioner contended that the police has no power, authority or jurisdiction to make the exercise which would amount to violation of the very principle. Moreover district Election Officers have no power to furnish the details to any person other than officials of the EC.Senior Counsel for Election Commission G Rajagopalan told the court that the EC has not permitted anyone to collect any such information.