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Journalism of Courage
Manoj Kumar Meena, the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka, said Saturday that there were over 50 per cent convictions in cases relating to the model code of conduct (MCC) violations in the state.
“Karnataka is one the states where the highest convictions have happened. Last time, 2,000-odd cases were booked. All were charge-sheeted, all were tried. I think we have done more than 50 per cent conviction in Karnataka,” Meena told PTI in an interview.
According to an EC official, these convictions pertain to the elections that have taken place from 2013 to 2019.
“Decisions have happened in all the cases. But in more than 50 per cent cases, the convictions were in our favour. It is a big number. I do not know about other states, but it is very rare that convictions are happening in election-related cases,” Meena said.
Saying that Karnataka has done better in this regard in comparison to other states, the CEO said the Election Commission (EC) and his office follow the cases very closely.
About the high conviction rate, Meena said the “cases are booked meticulously” and that people are imparted training on their handling.
“We train our people. The static squad teams and the flying squad teams have got magisterial powers. They have power to search and seize. We have told them how to search and seize, book a case, present before court and take court’s permission,” the CEO said.
Saying that huge cash, precious metals and freebies have been seized in the state “like never before” during the ongoing Karnataka Assembly election process, Meena added that the exercise started almost four months prior to the election dates being announced.
According to him, a Standard Operating Procedure was finalised to keep infrastructure in place as the elections were declared.
The officers on election duty started the vigilance activities almost immediately after the commission’s visit to the state, the CEO said.
“We are vigilant. Next 14 days will be very crucial for us. We are checking at our borders 100 per cent, but we are keeping a watch on the internal movement. We are gathering intelligence at the local level also,” Meena said.
He also said the commission was seeking and getting public support through its mobile application ‘cVIGIL’ through which anyone can take a picture or share any information about any election-related malpractice.
According to the data shared by Meena’s office, seizures totalled Rs 292.06 crore — including Rs 102.9 crore cash, liquor worth Rs 68.69 crore and 149.31 kg gold worth Rs 76 crore. — as on Thursday. This is since the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect on March 29.
Speaking about hate speech, Meena said the commission is watching any such development closely and has booked five such cases.
“We are watching television, social media and even the newspapers also. We have a dedicated team at each level – at district as well as our level. We have a dedicated control room for watching the media 24×7,” he added.
On the issue of tackling urban apathy during voting, he said various measures such as identifying the pockets where the voting percentage is low, holding meetings with the residents there and creating awareness among them have been taken.
He said the commission also relaunched the Chunavana mobile application, which will give voters details about the name, polling station, among others.
“Every 15 minutes, the data will be updated in the Chunavana app. So, if you enter your booth number and Assembly constituency in the application, it will tell you how many people are standing in the queue,” he said.
