Madras High Court throws out pleas to put off urban civic polls in Tamil Nadu
The Hindu
It will, however, monitor adherence to COVID-19 protocol.
The Madras High Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a batch of public interest litigation petitions filed by various individuals, including two physicians, for postponing the urban local bodies elections in Tamil Nadu until the COVID-19 situation improved.
Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu said judicial discipline required the High Court to keep its hands off when the Supreme Court had on September 27 ordered that an election notification be issued within four months. However, the judges decided to monitor compliance with the COVID-19 protocol by the candidates and the political parties during the campaign and directed the High Court Registry to list the cases 10 days after the election notification was issued.
The court noted that the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission (SEC) had on December 10 imposed elaborate restrictions and ordered that campaigning in large groups would not be permitted and only three persons at a time should go for door-to-door campaign. Therefore, any violation of the protocol could be brought to the notice of the court.
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