CHENNAI, June 18: The Madras High Court has rejected a plea to punish film actor Rajinikant for his tele-campaign during 1996 general elections, in which he had allegedly induced the voters to accept bribe.

Justice M Karpagavinayagam observed that a perusal of the entire speech would make it crystal clear that the main propaganda made by Rajinikant would be to throw out the alleged corrupt Jayalalitha government by seeking the support of the DMK-TMC parties in the State. His advise to the voters not to refuse money given by the opponent parties, to accept it and not to vote for them would neither be termed as undue influence nor encouragement of bribery. If he had advised the voters to receive the money from the DMK-TMC combine for not voting in favour of Jayalalitha, then it would definitely be an undue influence and true encouragement of bribery. But a reading of the speech showed his anxiety to expose the alleged corrupt activities of Jayalalitha government and the necessity for throwing out it, by impressing upon the public that not only Tamil Nadu or India, but even the whole world was aware of the atrocities committed by her.

The speech, if fully read, did not convey the meaning that he had encouraged bribery through undue influence. When the main aim would be to throw out the government, his speech could not be taken to mean that there was an advise to the public to take bribe. In his criminal revision petition against the order of the chief metropolitan magistrate in May 1996, advocate S Veeraraghavan submitted that Rajinikant's pre-election tele-campaign advising the voters to accept money from the opponent candidates and to refrain from voting for them, amounted to exercising undue influence over the voters by abetting them to accept bribe.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.