SC refuses urgent hearing on plea for poll reschedule in Tamil Nadu

A bench headed by Justice S A Bobde made the observation when the lawyer representing a Christian body sought the urgent hearing on their petition challenging the March 22 Madras High Court order which had dismissed their plea in this regard. The petition, filed by a managing trustee of ‘Christuva Nallenna Iyakkam’, said that the scheduled date of polling for the Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry falls within the holy period, which begins with ‘Maundy Thursday’ and is followed by Good Friday and Holy Easter.

“You can’t cast your vote on a holy day?” the bench, also comprising justices S A Nazeer and Indira Banerjee, asked the counsel who sought an urgent hearing on the plea. “How long does it take to vote?” the bench said, adding, “We don’t want to advise you on how to pray and how to cast vote”. The bench said there was no urgency in hearing the matter.

The petitioner said that having the polling date on April 18 would “cause inconvenience and displeasure” to the entire Christian community as they cannot go to church freely to involve in mandatory religious practices and they would also not able to freely discharge their fundamental duty by casting their vote. Mentioning that rescheduling the date of elections would enable the citizens at large to participate in the electoral process, the plea further stated that it should not, however, be construed as a challenge to the poll panel.