HC makes Centre, EC parties in petition on candidates' health

The Madras High Court today suo motu impleaded the Centre and Election Commission as respondents in a petition seeking a direction to election authorities to call for medical reports of candidates contesting local body polls to enable voters to know their health status.
The court gave the direction on a petition by one SV Subbaiah of Coimbatore District.
While orally observing that the same cannot be confined to local body polls alone as it was essential in the case of legislative assembly and parliamentary elections as well, it directed the petitioner's counsel to implead the Centre and Election Commission in the petition and posted the matter for further hearing to November 25.

The petitioner submitted that an elected representative, who is the voice of a voter, may become bedridden after polls owing to some chronic illness and thus preventing the person from attending sittings of the forum for the rest of the tenure.
Under such circumstances the voter will be a loser, he said.
Therefore, a responsibility is cast on the voter to take an informed decision to elect a hale and healthy candidate as the representative, to avoid or at least minimise the risk of choosing someone who is more unlikely to discharge his duty owing to sickness or physical incapacitation, he said.

Every person being appointed to a post, be it that of a soldier or a judge, is subjected to medical examination, he said.
Hence, he prayed to the court for a direction to election authorities to take necessary steps to call for medical reports from candidates contesting in local body polls, through affidavits.