The supreme court on Wednesday posted for February first week the final hearing of former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan's plea challenging the Election Commission's probe into the authenticity of his expenses during 2009 state assembly polls allegedly involving paid news.

A bench of justices Altamas Kabir and S S Nijjar said it would take up the matter for hearing around February 3 after counsel Gopal Subramanium and Abhisekh Manu Singhvi told the court that since written submissions in the case had already been filed by all the respondents, the matter may be taken up for early hearing.

On November 3, the apex court had stayed the probe by the Election Commission on Chavan's appeal against a Delhi high court order which had allowed the probe.

While staying the EC probe, the apex court bench also issued notices to the poll watchdog, Maharashtra unit of BJP and other complainants, including BJP leaders Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Kirit Somaiyya and Madhav Kinhalkar on whose plea the probe was launched.

The high court had on September 30 given the EC its green signal to go ahead with the probe into Chavan's poll account on the complaints of also former state minister Madhav Kinhalkar who was defeated by Chavan from Nanded assembly constituency.

The EC had begun proceedings against Chavan on April 2 on the complaints which alleged he had claimed a poll expenditure of merely Rs 11,000 despite paying money to various newspapers for favourable coverage of his election campaign.

Chavan had challenged the EC probe against him saying the commission had no power to probe his account but the high court said the poll panel was well within its right to do so.

While dismissing Chavan's plea against the poll panel's probe, the high court had said "the commission can go into the truthfulness or untruthfulness of the accounts filed by the elected candidates.

While dismissing Chavan's plea, the high court had also dismissed a similar plea by former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, currently in judicial custody in Ranchi for his alleged role in a money laundering and corruption case.

The EC had begun proceedings against Koda for his alleged failure to submit his detailed poll expense account in a 2009 bye-election in which he was elected as Singhbhum MP.

Koda, in a separate petition to the high court, had challenged the EC notice of October 7, 2010, and January 26, 2011, warning him of disqualification for allegedly not filing detailed accounts about his poll expenses during the 2009 elections.

The Delhi high court had also dismissed his plea, empowering the EC to go ahead with the probe.