Madras HC dismisses pleas seeking to collect expenses from candidates for cancellation of polls

The Madras High Court today
dismissed various petitions seeking a direction to collect
The First Bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar which dismissed the petitions, in its order said, "It is true that unscrupulous candidates contesting elections should not be allowed to go scot-free when they disrupt elections and thereby cause huge wasteful expenditure to the state exchequer."
It said in the order, "there is no specific provision in the Constitution or in the 1951 Act for recovery of expenses incurred by the Election Commission and/or by the State for preparation for elections from a candidate whose alleged acts lead to deferment or cancellation of elections."

The Bench further said, "in the instant case, there are no international conventions with regard to realisation of costs of postponement and/or cancellation of elections from the person responsible for postponement and/or Cancellation."