The Madras High Court on Monday sought to know if the Tamil Nadu government has challenged its single-judge order that dismissed a First Information Report filed in connection with the alleged distribution of cash among voters in Chennai’s Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly bye-poll in April 2017, PTI reported.

A division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and P Rajamanickam ordered the city commissioner of police, the joint commissioner (east), and the investigation officer of the case to submit a report by December 17.

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The court asked the Tamil Nadu government to file an affidavit detailing if it had filed a Special Leave Petition against the order of the single-judge bench. It also directed the government about the petitioner who had sought dismissal of the FIR.

But the bench turned down a plea seeking that the FIR be re-opened and that the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, saying the police should be given a chance to provide an explanation. The FIR had been filed by Election Commission officials.

The High Court was hearing pleas filed by several petitioners, including the then Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate N Maruthu Ganesh. The pleas had initially demanded the registration of an FIR over alleged malpractices in the run-up to the RK Nagar bye-poll on April 12, 2017, which was cancelled after complaints that cash was being distributed among voters.

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The bye-poll was later held in December 2017, with ousted All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader TTV Dinakaran winning the seat.

Public prosecutor A Natarajan on Monday told the court that a single-judge bench had dismissed the FIR on March 13 despite the prosecution’s objection. The High Court asked the police to also explain why no accused had been named in the FIR even though the original complaint mentioned that Income Tax officials had seized incriminating documents from the home of the health minister and two other government officials.