Madras High Court Orders Probe into Alleged Child Exploitation by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the Election Commission of India to file a response to a petition seeking a probe into the exploitation of children for indirect electoral gains by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) which recently formed a coalition government in Tamil Nadu after winning 108 seats. A vacation bench of justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan on Thursday granted a week’s time for the respondents including TVK, DMK and AIADMK, to file the reply and accordingly adjourned the matter. The petition was filed by L Vasuki, an advocate from Bhuvanagiri in Cuddalore district. She stated that TVK president C Joseph Vijay addressed a public meeting at YMCA grounds in Chennai on April 24 and called upon the “children to emotionally influence or pressure their parents” regarding voting preference in the elections. The petitioner stated that exploitation of minor children for indirect electoral influence “undermines constitutional morality” and “democratic fairness” and the ECI is duty bound to ensure purity and fairness in the electoral process and failure to investigate these corrupt practices amounts to abdication of duty.