Election Commission to decide on plea against PMK

First bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahavedevan while closing a public interest litigation in this regard, said: “At present, we would not like to observe anything further, especially keeping in mind that it is the own case of the petitioner that the ECI should act and not the court. This is a call which the ECI would have to take and communicate its decision to the petitioner within a maximum period of three months of the receipt of the order, keeping in mind the limitation of its powers.”

The plea to derecognise PMK was based on its alleged stand pertaining to inter-caste marriages. The petitioner Varakai had contended that while the party objective states so, in reality it was a different picture with the party expressing utter intolerance towards inter-caste marriages. He said this aspect was more than clear in the issue relating to the marriage between Ilavarasan and Divya of Natham village in Dharmapuri District, which subsequently ended in violence. 

But during the course of the hearing, the counsel for the Election Commission made it amply clear that as per settled legal position, such a power had not been conferred on the commission and “it has no power to review the order registering a political party for having violated the provisions of the Constitution or for having committed breach of undertaking given to the Election Commission at the time of registration.” The bench also held, “Whether the ECI is contemplating to address the Law Commission of India or the Government of India in respect of any of these issues is a moot point.”

The Madras High Court has exhorted the police to ensure that none of the residents in the City park their vehicles on the main road, causing hindrance to free flow of public and vehicular traffic. Justice S Vaidyanathan while dealing with a plea for anticipatory bail over a fight leading to criminal intimidation over a parking lot, said: “It is very unfortunate that neighbours without proper understanding stand on their ego for trivial issues.” However, the judge insisted that “if any complaint is made by adjacent house owners regarding parking of vehicles on road violating the rules, the offending vehicle may be towed by the police and necessary fine may be imposed on the offender, as irregular parking of vehicles on road can be put an end, only if fine is imposed on the offender.”