In a major setback to the DMK-led coalition’s efforts to have the first elections to revived legislative council in Tamil Nadu before the Assembly polls, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed it at least till July after the Election Commission sought certain clarification about the previous order of the Supreme Court.
The stay was granted by a bench of Justices J.M. Panchal and H.L. Gokhale after EC counsel S.K. Mehndiratta wanted to know from the court about the implications of its January 17 order while admitting a set of special leave petitions on the issue.
The top court in its last order had said that any step be taken by the state, Centre and Election Commission would be subject to the final result of the SLPs. The poll panel’s counsel sought a further clarification whether the January 17 order would cover only the preparation of electoral rolls as per the delimitation of the constituencies notified by the Tamil Nadu government or it would extend to holding of the elections based on those rolls.
In order to avoid any possible ambiguity or any further complications arising out of the order, the bench preferred to stay the entire process for election to the legislative council altogether before any notification is issued by the commission as no intervention of court is permitted once the polls are notified.
“Having regards to the facts of the case, it is clarified that it will be open to the EC to prepare the electoral rolls but election to the legislative council will not be held till further order. All steps taken by the EC to prepare the electoral rolls will be subject to the result of these appeals,” the top court said while ordering the listing of the case for final disposal in the week starting from July 11.
The stay on the legislative council election is being seen as a major setback to the DMK-led alliance as it reportedly had devised a plan to accommodate certain leaders, including sitting MLAs in the upper house, especially those who had “bleak prospects” of getting re-elected in the assembly elections and replace them with new candidates.
The top court on January 17 had admitted the appeals of BJP, M. Bharathiar and T.K. Ramamurethee, challenging the December 16 verdict of the Madras high court refusing to intervene in the matter. The top court, meanwhile, has sought the assistance of Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati in adjudication of the matter, which involves certain important constitutional questions relating the revival of the legislative council, earmarking of constituencies of electorates and preparation of the voters list accordingly.