Madras HC Extends Stay on Bypolls in Five Tamil Nadu Constituencies

CHENNAI: The Madras HC on Tuesday extended the interim stay against conducting bypolls to five Assembly constituencies till September 28, when the final hearing on the election petitions would be held. The first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan issued the directions while hearing a PIL filed by advocate K Venkatachalapathy against conducting bypolls until the court decided on the election petitions challenging the victories of respective candidates. Post-elections, CM Vijay resigned from Tiruchy (East) constituency, leaving it vacant, and four AIADMK MLAs — S Jayakumar (Perundurai), Esakki Subaya (Ambasamudram), C Vijayabaskar (Viralimalai) and M R Vijayabhaskar (Karur) — resigned and joined TVK. Barring the five seats, the ECI has announced that bypolls to the other two — Maduranthagam and Dharapuram — would be held on October 6. During the hearing, senior counsel S Muralidhar, representing Jayakumar, submitted that the stay against conducting bypolls to Perundurai cannot be justified, as the court had rejected the plea against Jayakumar’s victory. However, the bench said it would take a call after the final hearing on September 28.