# Supreme Court orders one-year deadline for poll offence probes 2026-08-18T00:41:48+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets The Supreme Court on Monday directed that investigations into electoral offences, including use of black money, must be completed within one year. A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar Singh also ordered high courts to designate special courts for speedy trial of such cases and made high court approval mandatory before a prosecution against a candidate can be withdrawn during an election cycle. The court was hearing an appeal from a 2015 Karnataka High Court order that had quashed an FIR against a candidate after Rs 20.48 lakh in cash was seized in Bellary. Expanding the scope of the case, Hindustan Times reports the court sought responses from the Election Commission, the Union government, and states. The bench warned that if electoral choice is tainted by external influences, “the very essence of democracy” is compromised. The Times of India notes the court also directed that when Static Surveillance Teams find cash over Rs 10 lakh, the Income Tax department must be activated. The Election Commission had told the court that unilateral withdrawal of cases after a change in government was a “problematic reality”. The court said the new rule places candidates on the same footing as sitting MPs and MLAs in criminal prosecutions. ## Coverage - hindustantimes.com - timesofindia.indiatimes.com This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-18T06:48:04+00:00. Tags: Bellary, Election Commission of India, Karnataka High Court, N Kotiswar Singh, Sanjay Karol, Supreme Court Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/supreme-court-sets-one-year-probe-deadline-for-electoral-offences/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/supreme-court-sets-one-year-probe-deadline-for-electoral-offences/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/