Madras High Court leaves recontesting rules for Parliament to decide

The Madras High Court has dismissed a petition seeking to prevent Members of the Legislative Assembly who resign from contesting the by-elections caused by their resignations. Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan said that Parliament should take a decision on the issue, according to The Hindu.

The ruling leaves the question of whether resigned MLAs should be barred from seeking election in the resulting bypolls to the legislative process rather than imposing such a restriction through the court proceedings described in the supplied material. The source does not identify the petitioner, the legislators or the constituencies involved. It also does not set out the legal arguments made before the court or provide the text of the judgment.

The decision concerns the eligibility of legislators who leave office voluntarily and then seek to return through the election held to fill the vacant seat. Any change to the rules would therefore require action by Parliament, according to the judges’ view reported by The Hindu.