The Madras High Court on Wednesday appointed one of its retired judges as the Returning Officer for conduct of elections to Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC). The court also ordered that the entire election process should be completed by June 30 and a report in the court should be filed by July 30.
Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy passed the order on a batch of civil suits and writ petitions filed in 2018 and 2019 in connection with the conduct of elections to the producers council. Even as the cases were pending in the court, the State government appointed a Special Officer to manage the affairs of the council.
Advocate Krishna Ravindran, representing the council’s past president Vishal Krishna, impressed upon the need for conducting a fair and free election to the council at the earliest since the one-year tenure of the government appointed Special Officer was due to end during the course of the current year.
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However, Additional Advocate General P.H. Arvindh Pandian told the court the tenure of the special officer had been extended for a further period of one year. As per the extension, the Special Officer could continue to administer the council till January 2, 2021, he said.
The AAG also requested the court to allow the Special Officer to conduct the elections under the supervision of a retired High Court judge who could be appointed as an Observer, if necessary. On the other hand, the litigants before the court insisted upon appointing a retired judge as the Returning Officer.
Accepting their plea, Justice Ramamoorthy ordered that the elections should be conducted only by a retired judge, who shall be named later, for conduct of elections as per the bylaws of society.
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