CHENNAI: Hearing a plea by the DMK, the Madras High Court has asked the Election Commission of India how it can take away the powers of the court provided under Article 226 of the Constitution.
The first bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice J Sathya Narayana Prasad raised the query while hearing the petition filed by the DMK challenging the orders of the Tamil Nadu CEO regarding the party’s poll advertisements.
Senior advocate R Shanmugasundaram, appearing for the petitioner, questioned the rationale behind the ECI’s submission that the rule was based on the Supreme Court order passed on April 13, 2004.
“It was an interim order and it is confined only to the particular case. Final order could have been passed but a copy of it is not available on the SC website. The ECI cannot say its rule is based on such an interim order,” he told the bench.
Advocate Niranjan Rajagopalan, representing the ECI, said the order of the Supreme Court has been extended time and again and is in operation to the ongoing polls too; and the rule on appeal is based on it.
When the bench asked him to produce the copy of the final order, he said it is not available.
Referring to the submission that the appeal against the CEO's order can be made only before the Supreme Court, the bench said, “You (ECI) cannot double up with the Article 226 of the Constitution which provides the powers (of writ jurisdiction) to the High Court.”
It directed the ECI counsel to produce the copy of the SC’s final order on Thursday and adjourned the matter to the same date for further hearing.
