CHENNAI: The
Election Commission of India (ECI) informed the
Madras high court on Thursday that it was the sole authority to decide the date of general elections after taking into account relevant factors and that the court had no jurisdiction to interfere.
Satyabrata Sahoo, chief electoral officer (CEO) for Tamil Nadu, made the submission through an affidavit on a batch of pleas moved by Antony Pappusamy, archbishop and president of
Tamil Nadu Bishop's Council,
Madurai
, S Inigo Irudayaraj, managing trustee of Christuva Nallenna Iyakkam in St Thomas Mount, and S Parthasarathy of Madurai, seeking to change the polling date for Tamil Nadu and
Puducherry in view of Maundy
Thursday and Chithirai festival in Madurai.
Tamil Nadu: Track here Lok Sabha elections' full coverageWhen the pleas came up for hearing before a division bench of Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad, the ECI submitted that occurrence of a religious festival or season was routine and common in the country and that the election could not be deferred solely on this ground. "As regards Madurai parliamentary constituency, based on the assessment of the district administration, it is ideal to proceed with elections as per schedule, with the additional deployment and the extended polling hours, in the interests of all concerned," the CEO said.
Relying on several Supreme Court judgments, the CEO added that framing of schedule or calendar for election is in the exclusive domain of the ECI, which is not subject to any law framed by parliament.
Recording the submissions, the bench said that it would pass final orders in the pleas on Friday.