Conviction rate in election-related offences high in Karnataka says top EC official

Bengaluru, Apr 29 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena has said that there are more than 50 per cent convictions in cases related to violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
The Election Commission (EC) keeps a close eye on cases of MCC violations, he said.
“Karnataka is one of the states with the highest number of convictions. Last time, 2,000-odd cases were registered. All were charged, all were investigated and I think we have done more than 50 per cent convictions in Karnataka,” Meena said. PTI in an interview.
According to the Election Commission official, these convictions are related to elections held from 2013 to 2019.
Elaborating further, Meena said, “All the cases have had verdicts, but in more than 50 per cent cases we have had verdicts in our favour. It’s a huge number. I don’t know about other states, but it’s very rare. Convictions happen in election-related cases.”
Stating that Karnataka has fared well in comparison to other states, the CEO said the Election Commission and his office were following the cases very closely.
Giving details of the high conviction rate, Meena said that cases are being registered meticulously and people are being trained to deal with them.
“We train our people. The fixed squad and flying squads have magisterial powers. They have powers to search and seize. We have told them how to search and how to seize, how to file a case, how to present. How to get permission from the court and the court,” he said. CEO said.
Noting that huge cash, precious metals and freebies have been seized in the state “unprecedentedly” during the ongoing Karnataka Assembly election campaign, Meena said the exercise began almost four months before the election dates were announced. Form of integration with various organizations.
According to him, a standard operating procedure was finalized due to which the infrastructure was already in place when the elections were announced.
The chief executive officer said that the officials on election duty started monitoring activities immediately after the commission visited the state.
As everything was in practice, the official machine was able to do it in a very professional manner and seized a lot of money, gold, liquor and freebies.
“We are on alert. The next 14 days will be very important for us. We are doing 100 per cent checks at our borders, but we are monitoring the internal movement. We are also gathering intelligence at the local level,” Meena said.
He said that the commission is seeking public support through ‘cVIGIL’, a mobile app where anyone can take pictures or share any information about election-related irregularities.
According to data shared by Meena’s office, as of Thursday, a total of Rs 292.06 crore has been seized since the Model Code of Conduct came into force on March 29, including Rs 102.9 crore in cash, Rs 68.69 crore worth of liquor and 149.31 kg of gold worth Rs 76 crore. .
Talking about hate speech, Meena said that the commission is keeping a close eye on such developments and has registered five such cases.
“We are looking at television, social media and even newspapers. We have a dedicated team at every level – district and our level,” explained the CEO.
“We have a dedicated control room to watch the media 24×7. We will not watch after 9 pm. We will have a thorough look and issue alerts. This is also being done at the ECI (Election Commission of India) level,” he added.
He said various measures have been taken to deal with urban apathy during polling, such as identifying pockets with low polling percentage, holding meetings with the residents and creating awareness among them.
The commission has re-launched ‘Chunavana ‘ mobile app which will give details about name, polling booth, how to reach there and how many people are standing in the queue, Meena said.
“Every 15 minutes, the data will be updated in the Chunavana app. So if your booth is known, 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 explained. .
People