Why not a law to ascertain health of civic poll candidates, asks Judge

Justice N Kirubakaran, on being informed by the State Election Commission’s (SEC) counsel that there exists no statute in this regard and hence it cannot ask the candidates to file a report about their health status, said if such a law does not exist, the state government has to do the needful in bringing about such a law insisting the candidates to file a report about their health status while filing the nomination. Posting the matter for further hearing to Friday, the Judge directed the SEC and the state government to file their replies as to why such a law should not be brought into vogue? The direction pertains to a plea moved by S V Subbaiah of Pollachi Taluk in Coimbatore. His counsel had submitted that despite the SEC not having adequate powers to call for the wealth and criminal antecedents of the candidates contesting in the local body polls it was continuing to do so. If that be the case, the counsel sought to know as to what prevented the SEC from seeking the health details of the candidates. Also, noting that a voter has a right to know about the health condition of the candidate to whom he would like to select, he submitted that the privacy clause about health condition will not come into play as the bar under the Privacy clause would cease to exist the moment one enters public life. He also referred to a Supreme Court Judgment which upheld the disqualification of a candidate in Orissa owing to his leprosy and said that it is imperative for a voter to know about the health condition of the candidate, who has come forward to serve the public.

The High Court has issued notice to the state government on a new PIL moved by fishermen welfare forum functionaries from Thoothukudi seeking to exclude catamarans using outboard motors upto 10hp from the ambit of the fishing ban scheduled to come into effect from January 1.

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan is already seized of similar pleas. The new PIL filed by J Manoharan Vaiz and R Raj of fishermen forums in Thoothukudi district, said motorised country boats are short distance vessels operating well within the 5-nautical mile range and they had been hit by the ban during the four-month turtle nesting period every year from January 1 to April 30. The High Court had taken suo motu cognisance on the death of olive Ridley turtles caused by fishing trawlers, resulting in blanket ban of all forms of fishing by all types of boats upto 5 nautical miles.