Patna High Court dismisses PIL bribery of voters during recent Bihar Legislative Assembly Election

In Anil Kumar vs. The Election Commission of India Through the Chief Election Commissioner & Ors. (2026), Patna High Court's Division Bench of Chief Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo and Justice Harish Kumar delivered a 4-page long judgement dated February 20, 2026, wherein, it concluded:" So far as violation of Model Code of Conduct is concerned, there is nothing in the petition that the petitioner has approached the Election Commission of India. There is no specific instances have been given that while the Model Code of Conduct was in force, there has been violation and the money has been disbursed to the beneficiaries under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojna. Therefore, in absence of specific averments taken in the writ petition, we do not feel it proper to entertain this Public Interest Litigation. Accordingly, the writ petition stands dismissed." The other four respondents were: Chief Electoral Officer, Bihar, State of Bihar Through the Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar, Finance Department, Government of Bihar, Through the Principal Secretary, Finance Department, Government of Bihar and Department implementing the scheme Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojna, Through its Principal Secretary, Government of Bihar. The judgement was authored by Chief Justice Sahoo.  

The petitioner alleged that while the Model Code of Conduct during Bihar Legislative Assembly Election, 2025 was in force, at that point of time, some money was transferred in the accounts of the beneficiaries under Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojna, which according to the petitioner should not have been done as it amounted to bribing the voters in order to influence them to vote for the ruling parties.

The writ petition was filed with the following prayer(s): “1(i) Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction calling for the complete records relating to the conception, approval, budgetary allocation, advertisements, beneficiary selection criteria and date-wise Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) details of the scheme titled "Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojna", particularly during the subsistence of the Model Code of Conduct.(ii) Direct the Respondent-State of Bihar to file a detailed affidavit disclosing; a.total amount disbursed under the scheme, b.number of beneficiaries, c. date-wise installments released, d. authority permitting continuation of DBT during election period, and e. correspondence exchanged with the Election Commission of India.
(iii) Constitute an Independent High-Level Inquiry Committee, preferably headed by a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India or the High Court, assisted by financial, administrative and election-law experts, to inquire into: a. the legality, b. intent, c. timing, and d. electoral impact of implementation of the said scheme during the election period.
(iv) Direct that the aforesaid inquiry shall be conducted under the supervision and monitoring of the High Court, with liberty to the Committee to summon records, call officials, examine witnesses, and submit periodical status reports before the High Court.
(v) Direct the Inquiry Committee to specifically examine: (a) whether continuation of the scheme violated the Model Code of Conduct, (b) whether the scheme amounted to inducement or bribery of voters; (c) whether public funds were misused for electoral advantage; (d) whether there was selective or discriminatory non-enforcement of election norms by the Election Commission of India. (vi) Upon completion of the inquiry, direct initiation of appropriate civil, criminal and departmental proceedings against responsible officials and authorities, if any illegality, misconduct or abuse of power is found. (vii) Issue a writ of mandamus directing the Election Commission of India to frame and strictly enforce uniform, binding and transparent guidelines governing Direct Benefit Transfer and welfare scheme disbursement during election periods, applicable uniformly across all States and Union Territories.”