The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed a writ petition seeking a direction to election authorities to postpone the by-election to Pennagaram Assembly constituency, slated for March 27, to May, in view of public examinations.
The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice H.L. Gokhale and Justice V. Dhanapalan, passed the order on a petition by S.D. Prabhakar of Tiruvallur, a member of the State steering committee of the Makkal Sakthi Katchi.
He submitted that higher secondary and SSLC examinations are to be held this month and the next. In Pennagaram constituency, about 8,000 students are to appear for the examinations. The by-election would affect their preparations.
Counsel for the Election Commission G. Rajagopalan submitted that in view of Article 329 of the Constitution, courts were not supposed to interfere in electoral matters. He referred to a letter dated March 1 of the District Collector, Dharmapuri, informing all those concerned that in view of the board examinations, candidates would ensure that cone speakers are not used and vehicles not fitted with public address system or loudspeakers within 100 m of examination centres.
The Bench said it expected the authorities, particularly the District Election Officer, to see to it that the Collector’s letter was strictly implemented so that no inconvenience was caused to students.
