3 months ago
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The Madras High Court connected Wednesday refused to enactment the orders passed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) precocious for de-registering a big of governmental parties which had not contested either the Legislative Assembly oregon Parliamentary elections successful the past six years.
Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan said nary interim bid could beryllium passed successful favour of the de-registered governmental parties since it would magnitude to allowing their writ petitions and permitting them to contention the upcoming Assembly predetermination successful Tamil Nadu.
The judges agreed with elder counsel G. Rajagopalan, representing the ECI, that the equilibrium of convenience was really successful favour of the ECI and not successful favour of the petitioners which had admittedly not contested immoderate of the elections conducted by the committee successful the past six years.
Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi and a fewer others had filed the writ petitions challenging their de-registration. The petitioners had questioned the authorization of the ECI to de-register them successful the lack of a statutory powerfulness to bash so.
Agreeing that the batch of cases argued by elder counsel N.L. Rajah, S. Prabakaran, P. Wilson, R. Srinivas and others had raised “a superior contented of law importance,” the judges directed the High Court Registry to database the main writ petitions for last proceeding successful the 2nd week of March 2026.
The petitioners had attacked the de-registration orders connected the premier crushed that Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act of 1951 speaks lone astir registration of governmental parties with the ECI but determination was nary corresponding proviso for de-registration of those parties.
Therefore, erstwhile the parties get registered, they could not beryllium de-registered by the ECI by invoking Section 21 of the General Clauses Act of 1897, they argued. They relied upon the Supreme Court’s verdict successful Indian National Congress versus Institute of Social Welfare (2002) to enactment their argument.
In that judgement, the Supreme Court had held that parties could beryllium de-registered lone successful utmost circumstances specified arsenic they having obtained registration done fraud oregon forgery oregon if they ceased to person religion and allegiance to the Constitution oregon to the principles of socialism, secularism and truthful on.
However, the ECI contended that the 2002 judgement was rendered earlier the committee issued elaborate guidelines, by exercising its powers nether Article 324 of the Constitution, successful 2014 requiring each different governmental enactment to contention elections, conducted by the commission, successful a artifact play of six years.
Mr. Rajagopalan said, aft 2014, the ECI had made it mandatory for each caller governmental enactment to incorporated successful its constitution that it shall contention elections wrong 5 years of its registrationd and that it would hold for de-registration if it fails to contention the elections wrong a artifact play of six years. He said, the guidelines were issued aft the Income Tax section had brought to the announcement of the ECI that galore registered governmental parties had been receiving nationalist donations and claiming taxation benefits without really contesting immoderate elections and remaining to beryllium governmental parties conscionable connected paper.
The petitioners had besides challenged the de-registration orders connected the grounds that their members had contested Assembly and Parliamentary elections nether the symbols belonging to different parties and that their nonstop information successful the section assemblage polls had not been taken into information by ECI.
However, the ECI claimed that the information successful elections conducted by the committee unsocial would beryllium taken into information and said, though the amusement origin notices to the petitioners had been issued by the Chief Electoral Officers, the de-registration orders had been passed by the ECI secretary.
