LS polls: MHC reserves final orders in PIL seeking to disclose medical report of candidates

CHENNAI: The Chief Bench of the Madras High Court reserved the final orders in the petition seeking to disclose the health conditions of the candidates contesting in the election while filing their nomination papers.

The first division bench comprising Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy after hearing all the submissions reserved the final orders without mentioning any date.

A litigant SV Subbaiah from Coimbatore moved the petition in HC seeking to direct the Election Commission of India (ECI) to mandate the disclosure of medical reports of the candidate who intended to contest the election.

The standing counsel for ECI Niranjan Rajagopal submitted that medical records are a personal document, hence mandating to disclose the health conditions will be in violation of the privacy of the candidates.

It is a policy decision hence the existing laws should be amended to disclose such documents.

The petitioner submitted that the voters have the right to be informed about the health conditions of the candidates, to whom they cast their votes.

The petitioner sought the Court to direct the election commission to take necessary steps to require the candidates contesting in the election to disclose about their health through affidavits annexed with the medical reportduring nomination.

However, the bench observed that the Court cannot compel anyone to disclose their medical conditions and reserved the order.