CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has refused to stall the vote count in Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency or issue directions to the Election Commission of India to arrange for a special polling for left-out voters. The first bench of Madras High Court comprising Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice G Chandrasekharan on Tuesday dismissed a public interest litigation petition filed by R Suthanthira Kannan, an NRI doctor hailing from Coimbatore.
Recording the submission by ECI that the petitioner’s name was removed in 2021 from the electoral rolls as he has not been residing in Coimbatore, the bench disposed of the petition saying no order could be passed by taking into account the fact that the polling process was already complete and the final electoral rolls was released in January. The petitioner had stated that he was employed in Australia and had returned to the country to cast his vote in the elections to the Lok Sabha.
However, he said, his and his wife’s names were missing from the rolls of Coimbatore constituency. He blamed the poll authorities for arbitrarily removing his name from the rolls and sought the court to regain his constitutional right to vote. He had also stated that deprivation of the voting right amounts to infringement of fundamental right as guaranteed under Article 19.
