Plea of NRI for special poll in Kovai citing mass vanishing of voter names rejected

CHENNAI: The First Bench of the Madras High Court refused to direct to conduct special election for the left out voters in Coimbatore Parliamentary constituency and withheld the election result till then.

The Bench comprising Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice G Chandrasekharan heard a petition moved by R Suthanthira Kannan, Coimbatore-native doctor working in Australia.

The petitioner submitted that he and his wife returned to Coimbatore on polling day to cast their votes, however it was found that their name was removed from the voters list and they weren’t allowed to cast their votes. Similarly, many voters name were removed from the voters list in Coimbatore constituency and sought to direct the Election Commission (EC) to conduct special election to the left out voters and withheld the election results.

The standing counsel for EC Niranjan Rajagopal submitted that the final voters list was published in January itself and the voter list was sent to each and every voter.

However, the petitioner has not raised any objection and represented to the EC, said the counsel. Further, it was submitted that the petitioner name was removed from the voters list since 2021 election, as he is not a regular resident of Coimbatore and a resident of Australia.

After the submission, the bench refused to grant any direction to conduct special election and disposed of the petition.

The petitioner name was removed from the voters list since 2021 election, as he is not a regular resident of Coimbatore