CHENNAI: It was a grave mockery of justice that the people of Radhapuram Assembly constituency were represented by a person not duly elected, said the Madras High Court, noting that the failure to adhere to expeditious trial assured by the Representation of the People Act undermined democracy and the true spirit of adult franchise.
Justice G Jayachandran of the Madras High Court made the comment while declaring the election of AIADMK’s IS Inbadurai as null and void, and declaring senior DMK leader M Appavu the elected MLA of Radhapuram for the 2016-21 term. While the order was pronounced on June 3, the detailed order was made available on Friday.
Noting the 10-year delay in deciding the case due to the pendency of the matter before the Supreme Court, Justice Jayachandran said when courts do not adhere to the mandate for expeditious trial as provided under the Representation of the People Act, it undermined democracy and the true spirit of adult franchise.
The case was a mockery of justice, the court added. "The term 'unfortunate' may not be an adequate expression to describe the present case since, in the view of this court, a grave mockery of justice, under the guise of dispensing justice, has been committed to the people of India, particularly the voters of Radhapuram Assembly constituency, who were forced to bear a person as their Assembly representative though he is not duly elected," it said.
“If courts continue to ignore their own observations made in the Mohd. Akbar case, I fear that this country may also go in the way of other autocratic countries which gained Independence around 75 years ago, along with us," the judge added in an indirect reference to Pakistan.
The court then declared Appavu as the elected representative of Radhapuram constituency for the term 2016–21, and held that Inbadurai, who was wrongly declared as the elected candidate, has to forego all the consequential benefits.
However, since the improper declaration was not attributable to Inbadurai’s conduct, the court clarified that its order would not disqualify him in any manner whatsoever, except from claiming any pensionary benefits of being an MLA.