CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has dismissed a PIL seeking a stay on the Madurantakam and Dharapuram bye-elections and statutory restrictions on elected representatives who resign soon after elections from contesting again.
The bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan, in its order on Thursday, noted that the relief sought could not be granted. “It is for the legislature to legislate. We cannot legislate,” the bench said while dismissing the plea.
Advocate K Suthan of Saidapet had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Madras High Court, seeking a stay on the bye-elections to the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly constituencies.
In his petition, Suthan contended that when an elected representative resigns shortly after an election for personal or political reasons, a statutory restriction should be considered to prevent the person from contesting elections to Parliament or a State Legislative Assembly for the next five years.
He submitted that public money is spent on conducting elections and that its economical and responsible use is a matter of public interest. He also argued that the electorate’s mandate cannot be treated as a personal political asset that can be abandoned shortly after an election without considering the consequences for voters and the public exchequer.
The petitioner contended that Kumaravel and Sathyabama should not be allowed to contest, as they resigned for political reasons and were causing additional public expenditure.
During the hearing, the petitioner’s senior counsel, R Singaravelan, submitted that if an MLA resigns and stays at home, no questions would be raised about it. However, since they resign and contest elections again, the Election Commission should frame rules taking this into consideration.
Election Commission of India counsel Niranajan Rajagopalan submitted that after the declaration of election results, the Commission has no role to play and that the petition was not maintainable.
He also submitted that there is no provision to recover bye-election expenses from MLAs who have resigned.
After hearing all the parties, the bench reserved the orders on September 21.