The Madras High Court on Monday sought the response of the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission to a writ petition, filed by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), seeking a direction to it to scrupulously follow the guidelines of the Election Commission of India (ECI) while conducting elections to urban local bodies in the State.
Justices M. Duraiswamy and P.D. Audikesavalu directed the TNSEC counsel to obtain instructions by January 3. The AIADMK, represented by its organisational secretary D. Jayakumar, feared that the ECI might end up disqualifying its candidates by citing one or the other reason, and hence prayed for free and fair elections.
Representing the party, senior counsel Vijay Narayan told the court that it was essential for Returning Officers to issue acknowledgements with respect to every document filed along with the nomination papers since there had been instances in the past of nominations getting rejected on the ground that crucial supporting documents were missing.
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After hearing him, the judges asked the TNSEC counsel to ascertain if it would be possible to issue such an acknowledgement.