CHENNAI: Holding that the court cannot interfere with the poll schedule announced for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a PIL seeking to advance the date of vote counting in Tamil Nadu.
It is in the wisdom of the Election Commission of India the election dates are announced, and upon culmination of the last phase of polling, the vote counting is scheduled, stated the court’s first bench consisting of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy.
The court cannot interfere with the election process under Article 227 and 329 of the constitution, the CJ noted.
The PIL was filed by one Ezhilan seeking to advance the vote counting due to a long gap between the day of polling and counting in the state. The bench held that the petition does not ‘espouse’ any public cause but more of a ‘publicity interest’ and dismissed the petition for want of merits.
It also pointed out that there is no provision in the Representation of the People Act, 1951, for setting a particular date for polling and subsequent counting.