The Madras High Court on Friday dismissed three PILs seeking to reschedule the April 18 Lok Sabha polls for Tamil Nadu in view of religious festivals and events, saying only in the rarest of rare cases could it interfere in the Election Commission schedule.
Referring to several Supreme Court judgements, a division bench comprising Justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad said, "The apex court has made it clear that Article 324(1) is a plenary provision vesting the whole responsibility of national and state elections on the Election Commission of India (ECI)... The commission has to comprehend the process of election in the entire country, while conducting the elections for Parliament."
It has to take into account the selection of booths, movement of para-military forces throughout the country and several other factors, the court said.
Once the election schedule is fixed, it should not be interfered with, unless some event occurs which was not in the contemplation of the election commission.
It is well settled that the writ court should not ordinarily, except in rarest of rare cases, interfere with the schedule fixed by the ECI, while exercising its jurisdiction, under Article 226 of the Constitution.
