Madras HC seeks ECI's response to it's regulation restricting Court's power
The first division bench comprising Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice J Sathya Narayana Prasad also asked the ECI to submit that the regulation was followed in the earlier elections.
Madras High Court (File Photo)
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court directed the Election Commission of India(ECI) to respond whether the petitions challenging the refusal of pre certification for election advertisement can be heard only before the Supreme Court.
The first division bench comprising Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice J Sathya Narayana Prasad also asked the ECI to submit that the regulation was followed in the earlier elections.
DMK approached the High Court challenging the refusal of the ECI to grant pre-certification for telecasting or advertise the election campaign under the title “Stalin calls to protect India '' highlighting the party’s achievements and performance.
It was submitted that the state level certification committee (SLCC) rejected the application on the ground that it promotes enmity between religion, race, language, caste, and community which is likely to disturb public tranquility.
Senior counsel R Shunmugasundaram representing DMK submitted that the ECI rejected the application on flimsy grounds.
The standing counsel for ECI, Niranjan Rajagopal submitted that petition challenging rejection of pre-certification order can be heard only by the Supreme Court, under regulation 3.8 of Handbook of Media Matters.
After the submission the bench wondered how can the ECI circulate such regulation by taking away the power of the High Court undee Article 226 of the Constitution.
The bench directed the ECI to respond regarding regulation 3.8 and posted the matter to April 17 for further submission.