The Madras High Court on Monday came down heavily on the Election Commission of India (ECI), squarely laying the blame on the agency for the second wave of Covid-19, suggesting that it failed to discipline political parties that flouted rules by holding rallies during the campaign.
At one point, the court said ECI officers should be booked on murder charges probably, and warned of stopping the counting of votes on May 2 if a “blueprint” of the safety measures to be followed at counting centres is not in place by April 30.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy also asked whether the officers of the ECI were on “another planet when poll rallies were held”. The bench expressed displeasure at the ECI for failing to act while reminding the agency that the court was asking everyone to maintain Covid protocol.
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“You have been the most irresponsible institution in the last few months. You are the only institution singularly responsible for the situation we are facing today,” the bench told the ECI counsel orally. The court was hearing a writ petition filed by Karur AIADMK candidate and Transport Minister M R Vijayabhaskar seeking a direction to the ECI to put in place stringent measures to ensure fairness in counting of votes.
"Public health is of paramount importance and it is distressing that constitutional authorities have to be reminded in such regard. It is only when a citizen survives that he will be able to enjoy the rights that a democratic republic guarantees,” the court said.
The court also asked the ECI to submit a blueprint on the safety measures to be placed at counting centres in consultation with the Health Department by April 30. If a proper plan is not in place, the court warned, it could postpone the date of counting scheduled on May 2.
The ECI has come under severe attack from various quarters for failing to ensure that parties adhered to the Covid-19 rules.