Court notice to Ajay Maken for excess spending on campaign

Delhi High Court Friday sought responses from Minister of State for Home Ajay Maken and returning officer of the New Delhi parliamentary constituency on a petition stating that the election expenses of the Congress leader were much higher than the permissible limit.

"Issue notice to respondents (Maken and returning officer of New Delhi Parliamentary constituency) for Aug 21," Justice S. Ravindra Bhat said.

The court’s notice came on a petition, filed under the Representative of Peoples Act, seeking to declare Maken’s election null and void on the ground that he violated the code of conduct by spending much more than the maximum limit of Rs.25 lakh.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for petitioner Adesh Gupta, said Maken had claimed to have spent around Rs.20 lakh in his election campaign, but he issued full page advertisements in various national and local dailies.

"The MP adopted corrupt practices to get elected and distributed gifts among the electorate," the counsel charged. The petition cited comparative charts of rates charged by newspapers for publishing advertisements.

The petition charged that Maken spent over Rs.1.5 crore on hoardings alone, which is contrary to his claim that he spent Rs.eight lakh on them. The minister claimed to have paid over Rs.80,000 to leading English dailies for the advertisements which was again not true, the petition alleged.

Meanwhile, another bench of the court dismissed another petition seeking the setting aside of the general elections 2009 on the ground that the BJP’s manifesto was communal and it be de-barred from taking part in any elections.

Last updated on Jul 17^th, 2009 at 21:57 pm IST--IANS