EC to hold by-poll in 3 TN Assembly seats, SC told

The Election Commission on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it was ready to hold by-poll in Aravakurichi, Ottapidaram and Tirupparankundram Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu, within a reasonable period of time.

A bench of Justices S A Bobde and S Abdul Nazeer recorded a statement made by advocate Amit Sharma on behalf of the poll panel and disposed of the petition filed by DMK and others.

DMK and others, represented by senior advocates A M Singhvi and C U Singh, submitted that the EC should be directed to hold the polls on the three seats, along with the scheduled dates of polls for Lok Sabha and other by-poll Assembly constituencies.

The court, however, disagreed to their plea and closed the matter, by recording the one-line submission by the EC's counsel.

The bench observed the court can't interfere with the present election process.

The DMK sought a direction to the Election Commission to notify the by-polls and publish the election schedule for the vacant Aravakurichi, Ottapidaram and Tirupparankundram Assembly constituencies.

The party said the by-elections to the three vacant Assembly seats should be conducted along with other by-election scheduled on April 18, 2019.