A Division Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday stayed the operation of an order passed by a single judge of the court on January 24, directing the holding of fresh elections to the South Indian Artistes Association (SIAA), popularly known as Nadigar Sangam, after discarding the polls held on June 23 with the court’s permission.
The Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and Abdul Quddhose granted the interim stay till April 8 following a batch of appeals preferred by SIAA through its counsel on record Krishna Ravindran and by its former treasurer Karthi. The appellants insisted that the court allows the counting of votes polled on June 23.
Agreeing to take up the appeals for final hearing next month, the judges stayed the operation of as many as seven out of a series of 10 directions issued by the single judge while passing a common judgment on a batch of writ petitions as well as civil suits filed both for and against the validity of the polls held last year.
The seven directions that the Bench had stayed included those for the preparation of a fresh voters’ list, the holding of fresh elections, the provision of police protection for the fresh polls, holding that the decision of a court-appointed Election Officer will be final in case of any dispute, and the fixing of an ultimatum of three months to conduct fresh elections.
Making it clear that a State government-appointed Special Officer could continue to manage the affairs of the association until the appeals are disposed of, the Division Bench refrained from staying the operation of the single judge’s three other directives, one of which permitted the Special Officer to be in command until new office-bearers take charge.
