Producers’ Council gets time till Sept 30 to complete elections

Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy granted the extension following a plea moved by applicants, including R Radhakrishnan of Maruthi Films, that it has not been possible to proceed with the election process as scheduled due to COVID-19.

After the counsels appearing for the special officer, and past president Vishal Krishna concurred with the request for time, Justice Ramamoorthy said, “Accordingly, the time limit for the conclusion of the election is extended by three months from June 30 to September 30. The report of the election officer shall be filed within a period of one month thereafter.” He also noted that parties were at liberty to re-apply, if required, based on the evolving situation.

While passing orders on a batch of civil suits and writ petitions filed in 2018 and 2019 seeking to conduct elections to Producer’s Council, the High Court had appointed one of its retired judges as returning officer to conduct elections by June 30.

Even as the cases were pending in the court, the State government had appointed a special officer to manage the affairs of the council. Following an extension, the special officer can administer the council till January 2, 2021.