Lately following up after the local body elections held in Tamil Nadu, a contempt petition has been filed on January 7, 2020 for not complying with the proper procedure to conduct the local body election in the state of Tamil Nadu for the posts of election commissioner, chairman, secretary and chief secretary to name a few. The petition was filed by C. R. Jaya Sukin against the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission and others. 

The petitioner said that, “That the Contemnors have no respect for the law or this Hon’ble Court. Thus, Contemnors are liable to be punished for the willful and deliberate disobedience of the order of this Hon’ble Court.” The petition has been filed with the intention to bring in action against the wrongdoers and deter them with bringing about, inter alia, punitive liability.

The states election commission announced only a select result and not the complete list which ultimately favored certain voters and put bias in their minds. This is a direct violation of the norms laid down by the Election Commission and colors the opinions of the voters. Only a part of the election results were announced thereby creating biasness in the minds of the people. The petitioner has cited the example of the Lok Sabha Elections during which the results were only announced when all seven phases of the voting was completed in order to strike a “healthy practice in India for parliament.”

Author: Smriti Arvind