Chennai: The judges of the Madras High Court have stated that those who have resigned from their MLA posts cannot seek a ban on contesting elections again for a specified period. In the case that sought a stay on the by-election, the judges have reserved their verdict and issued an order.
The by-election for the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly constituencies is scheduled to be held on Oct. 6. Advocate K. Sudhan filed a case in the Chennai High Court seeking a ban on this election. “For their political gain, they resign from their MLA posts and then contest the by-election again. When filing nominations in such cases, proper procedures should be framed so that they deposit in advance the expenses for that election.
He had said that a legal amendment should be brought in so that they cannot contest elections again for a specified period.
The case came up for hearing again yesterday before Chief Justice S.A. Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arulmurugan. Details:
Senior advocate Singaravelan, appearing for the petitioner, said: The AIADMK MLAs joined the ruling party, TVK, within minutes of resigning their posts. As a token of gratitude for that, they have now been given another opportunity to contest in the by-elections in the same constituencies on behalf of the ruling party. This is a huge betrayal and injustice to the people who trusted them and voted for them.
This is anti-democratic. Therefore, those responsible for the by-election should be held accountable, and the election expenses should be recovered from them.
Appearing for the Election Commission, lawyer Niranjan Rajagopalan said: It is the duty of the Election Commission to conduct elections democratically and announce the results. After the election results are announced, the Election Commission has no role. Since this case was filed after the by-election was announced, it is not suitable for hearing.
Judges: In the absence of any law regarding recovering election expenses from MLAs who have resigned their posts and barring them from contesting elections again, how can the court intervene and bring about a legal amendment? Only Parliament can enact such a law. Moreover, the court cannot direct the Central government to enact a new law in this regard.
Under the Representation of the People Act, when an MLA resigns from office and contests an election again, a question may be raised before the Election Commission to disclose the expense details of the previous election.
However, it cannot be demanded that the said amount be recovered only from the candidates concerned who are contesting the election again. Likewise, it cannot be demanded that they be barred from contesting the election for a specified period. The judges who said this adjourned the verdict in the case without specifying a date.