State election commissioner, Secy appear; Hearing in civic poll case put off to November 10

As there was no sitting of the first bench on Tuesday the matter came up before the division bench comprising Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice N Seshasayee, when both the officials appeared as per the summons and sought for dispensation of their appearance. But senior counsel P Wilson appearing on behalf of the DMK submitted that seeking dispensation is neither a matter of right nor an automatic one. 

The first bench of Madras High Court by an order on September 4 had directed TNSEC to notify the elections by October and conclude the local body elections by November 17. 

But instead of complying with the order, the Government passed a notification on a Sunday repealing certain sections of TN Panchayat Act, 1994. Based on the notification, the SEC filed a petition seeking to modify the order.