Madras High Court Rejects Plea to Charge Resigning MLAs

The Madras High Court dismissed a public interest litigation that sought to hold elected representatives financially accountable for the costs of bye-elections triggered by their premature resignations. The petitioner, an advocate named Suthan, requested the establishment of an Election Expenditure Security to recover costs from resigning members of the legislative assembly and the implementation of a cooling-off period to prevent them from re-contesting in the same constituencies.

The plea specifically cited members of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam who resigned to join the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party in the Maduranthakam and Dharapuram constituencies. The petitioner argued that such resignations create an unnecessary financial burden on the state.

A bench comprising Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan ruled that the court cannot design a punitive financial regime or direct the legislature to pass new laws. The court stated that changes to electoral law are matters of legislative policy for Parliament to decide, noting that the judiciary can only interpret existing laws or fill interstitial gaps.