Madras High Court Stops Election Commission From Notifying Byelections in Five Tamil Nadu Seats

The Madras High Court on Friday (July 10, 2026) restrained the Election Commission of India (ECI) from notifying byelections to five Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu – Tiruchi East, Perundurai, Ambasamudram, Viralimalai, and Karur – until July 31. The interim order came in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) that argued that the resignations of the sitting members should not be treated as 'clear vacancies' because election petitions challenging their victories were pending before the court.

The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan, issued the order after hearing preliminary submissions from both sides. The court has given respondents, including the ECI and the Tamil Nadu government, time until July 31 to file counter affidavits.

The PIL petitioner, K. Venkatachalapathy of Tirunelveli, contended that holding byelections before the disposal of election petitions could create a legal anomaly: if the petitions are allowed, the constituencies could end up with two representatives – the newly elected candidate and the candidate declared victorious by the court.

Senior counsel G. Masilamani, representing Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay who had resigned from one of the constituencies, questioned the PIL petitioner's locus standi, arguing that the petition was premature as the ECI had not yet taken any decision on the matter. Advocate General Vijay Narayan, representing the Legislative Assembly Secretary, argued that a distinction must be made between resignations that occurred before and after the filing of election petitions. He noted that the Chief Minister resigned from Tiruchi East on May 10, while the election petition was filed later.

ECI counsel Niranjan Rajagopalan informed the bench that the commission was unaware of the details of the election petitions as it had not yet received court notices. He added that the PIL petitioner might have accessed information that was not officially served to the ECI.

The court has scheduled the next hearing after July 31, when the respondents are expected to file their counter affidavits.