CHENNAI: A vacation bench of justices S Sounthar and P B Balaji on Wednesday ordered notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the state government seeking reply to a petition praying for directions to set up a commission to inquire into the alleged failure of the authorities concerned of the ECI and the state to arrange for adequate bus service for the voters who were about to leave for their native towns a day before the April 23 polling.
The petition, filed by activist S Devadas Gandhi Wilson, also stated that many government employees on election duty could not cast their votes through postal ballots due to poor arrangements made for such voting.
Considering the issues of low number of casting postal ballots and the non-availability of frequent bus services on the eve of the election, it is clear that a sizeable chunk of the electorate was unable to exercise their democratic right of franchise primarily because of lack of coordination among the authorities concerned of the ECI and the government departments. The central government also did not arrange for the operation of adequate trains for the voters to commute to their destinations, the petition alleged.
The bench adjourned the hearing to June.