[Erode East Bypoll] Election Commission Lists Steps To Ensure Free & Fair Election; Madras High Court Disposes AIADMK Organising Secretary's Plea

The Madras High Court has disposed of a petition filed by AIADMK Organising Secretary C. Ve Shanmugam seeking a direction to the Election Commission to ensure free and fair conduct of the Erode (East) Bye Election. Shanmugam had sought for deployment of Central paramilitary forces and permitting identification of voters only through their identity cards and not the booth slips.Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy took note of the submissions made by the Election Commission listing out the steps taken to ensure smooth conduct of the election.Shanmugam had contended that out of the 2,26,867 names in the voter list, 30,056 names were not those of the local residents. Further, 7,947 names were those of the dead and 1,009 names had double entries. He had also alleged that the ruling party was bribing the voters and that no action was being taken by the Enforcement authorities.The Additional Chief Electoral Officer challenged the maintainability of the petition on the ground that there was a bar under Article 329(b) of the Constitution in entertaining petitions when the elections were going on. It was further submitted that the petition was premature.The Additional Chief Electoral Officer also informed the court that various measures were taken to ensure smooth conduct of elections. Identification of voters was to be done using Electoral Photo Identity Card and 14 other proofs.It was submitted that the Electoral Roll was finalised after receiving clearance from the Commission and after giving adequate publicity. The draft Electoral rolls were shared with all major political parties. Further, a special list called Absentee, Shift and Dead electors (ASD list) is prepared, and additional measures are followed in respect of the same, in order to prevent impersonation at times of polls. The names of persons who come for casting vote and belonging to this list will be read out loudly and a thumb impression along with signature and declaration is obtained. This is done to prevent impersonation and at the same time keeping in mind the electors right to vote.The commission submitted that to ensure implementation of Model Code of Conduct and to prevent illegal activities, 12 Flying Squads and 12 Static Surveillance Teams have been deployed in the constituency. These squads are headed by Senior Executive Magistrate and comprise of one Senior Police Officer, and 3 to 4 Armed Personnel apart from a Videographer. In addition to this, 2 Video Surveillance Teams and 2 Video Viewing Teams have also been formed and mobile patrol teams have been deployed by the State.It was further submitted that CRPF police have been deployed in the constituency and public parades have been carried out to ensure Public confidence. Additionally, on the day of the election CCTV coverage, videography and webcasting will be arranged in all polling stations.The commission also informed that 3 Observers (General Observer, Expenditure Observer and Police Observer) have been appointed by the Commission from other states to monitor the election related activities. Thus, it was submitted that the petitioners representations were duly considered and that necessary steps were already taken by the commission to ensure transparency in the elections.Being satisfied with the measures taken by the authorities, the court disposed of the petitions.Case Title: C.Ve. Shanmugam v. Election Commission of India and anotherCitation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 61

[Erode East Bypoll] Election Commission Lists Steps To Ensure Free & Fair Election; Madras High Court Disposes AIADMK Organising Secretary's Plea

Upasana Sajeev

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