Chennai: Deferring elections to five assembly constituencies in view of pending election petitions would be against public interest, Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay told Madras high court on Monday.A plea to stall the byelections is not a public interest litigation, but a petition filed in the interest of an individual, said senior advocate G Masilamani, representing Vijay.The submissions were made on a PIL moved by K Venkatachalapathy seeking to restrain Election Commission of India (ECI) from announcing byelections in Trichy East, Ambasamudram, Perundurai, Karur and Viralimalai constituencies, where election petitions are pending. The petitioner said the vacancies created after the MLAs resigned and joined the ruling party cannot be considered clear vacancies warranting the announcement of byelections.Opposing the plea, Masilamani submitted that in Trichy East constituency a total of 20 people contested the election, including the chief minister, who polled 91,381 votes. Of the 20, only DMK candidate Inigo Irudayaraj has moved an election petition challenging the poll. Byelection to the constituency can be stalled only in a situation where only two persons contested the election, he added.Recording the submissions, the first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharamadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan adjourned the hearing to Sept 29.
