Civic polls in TN will be completed by mid-May: SEC informs HC

Elections to the civic bodies in Tamil Nadu would completed by May 14, the state Election Commission today informed the Madras High Court.
This was submitted by the counsel for the State Election Commission (SEC) B Kumar to the division bench comprising justices Nooty Ramamohana Rao and S M Subramaniam.
As the school examinations and evaluation of answer sheets would be held in April, the elections could be conducted in May, the counsel said.
On October 4, 2016, a single judge bench of the high court set aside the September 26, 2016 election notification issued by the SEC on petitions by Opposition DMK and other political parties citing non-compliance of Tamil Nadu Panchayat (Elections) Rules, 1995, following which the polls scheduled for October 17 and 19 were cancelled.

The DMK and other political parties had then contended that the SEC's preparations were known to the ruling AIADMK which released the entire list of candidates within hours after the notification was issued. Delimitation and reservation-related issues too had not been properly taken into account, they had submitted.
The SEC moved an appeal against the single judge's order.
However, noting that the election process has already cancelled, a division bench suggested the SEC to issue fresh notification.
The court had on January 27 directed the SEC to get instructions from the authorities concerned and inform the court as to the exact time required to conduct the civic polls.