NE LEGAL BUREAU
CHENNAI, MAR 23
Amid a spurt in coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court has directed the Election Commission to advise all political parties contesting the April 6 Assembly election to strictly comply COVID-19 protocol.
The first bench, consisting of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, which gave the direction, however, rejected the plea to restrain political outfits from campaigning in view of the recent spurt in Covid cases.
The judges were disposing of a public interest writ petition from A Jalaludeen of Madurai.
Political parties should ensure that the voters and candidates and their associates wore masks and maintain the mandatory distance without any exception. It is for the EC to send this message to the political parties, the judges added.
After witnessing a declining trend throughout February, COVID-19 infections in the state have been on the rise steadily since March 5, with the state adding 1,385 fresh infections on Monday, pushing the active cases to 8,619. Single phase polling to 234 seats is scheduled on April 6.
