The Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed a writ petition filed by a member of Naam Tamilar Katchi seeking a compensation of ₹1 crore from Election Commission of India (ECI) for issuing a notification on December 31 for conduct of byelection to the Tiruvarur Assembly constituency and rescinding it on January 7. Justices S. Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad rejected the plea of Shahul Hameed alias Tamil Mulakkam Shahul Hameed after observing that the High Courts could invoke its writ jurisdiction for award of compensation only in cases where there was violation of Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution. The ECI had rescinded the bypoll notification in January this year after a section of political parties expressed reservations over the bypoll coming in the way of implementation of relief measures in areas hit by the Cyclone Gaja. However, in his writ petition, Mr. Hameed stated that the ECI was in the habit of announcing elections and then cancelling them at will. He attempted to fortify his claim by citing the cancellation of the byelection to Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency in 2017 due to large scale corruption.

Source: The Hindu March 21, 2019 19:52 UTC