CHENNAI: The first bench of the Madras High Court comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Sunder Mohan on Friday ordered notice to the Election Commission of India to respond to a public interest litigation petition filed by former AIADMK minister MR Vijayabaskar seeking to remove the names of disqualified, duplicate and dead persons from electoral rolls in Karur Assembly segment.
Granting a week’s time to file the reply, the bench adjourned the matter accordingly.
Vijayabaskar, in his petition, stated the rolls released by the assistant electoral registration officer issued on January 6, 2025 was illegal, arbitrary, unjust and untenable. He contended that there was serious malpractice involving the inclusion of certain ineligible names and the deliberate omission of eligible names from the rolls, which will likely have a direct and adverse impact on the integrity of the 2026 assembly election, he said.
Stressing the need for door-to-door verification of the voters, he stated that the booth level officers must scrupulously carry out their duties prior to every election.
The ex-minister said such inaction and deficient implementation have resulted in the inclusion of fraudulent and duplicate entries in the electoral rolls thereby creating a fertile ground for casting of counterfeit votes and manipulating the democratic process.