CM Vijay Urges Madras High Court to Lift Stay on Bypolls in Five Assembly Seats

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay approached the Madras High Court on Friday with a plea to vacate an interim order that restrained the Election Commission from issuing notification for bye-elections in five Assembly constituencies where returned candidates resigned.

The submission was made in a counter-affidavit responding to a Public Interest Litigation filed by advocate K Venkatachalapathy. The five vacant constituencies include the Tiruchirappalli (East) Assembly segment, one of the two seats won by Vijay in the April 2026 elections before he subsequently resigned from the seat.

On July 10, the First Bench comprising Chief Justice S A Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan had issued the interim order. The bench directed Vijay and four former AIADMK MLAs who had resigned—M R Vijayabaskar from Karur, C Vijayabaskar from Viralimalai, S Jayakumar from Perundurai, and Esaki Subbaiya from Ambasamudram—to submit comprehensive counter-affidavits addressing the factual and legal points raised.

The PIL had sought a declaration that vacancies arising from the resignations of returned candidates do not constitute "clear vacancies" or available vacancies for conducting bye-elections under Section 151-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Vijay requested the court to dismiss the petition with exemplary costs.

In his affidavit, Vijay contended that the petitioner lacked locus standi to file the plea because he was not qualified to file an election petition and could not rely on petitions filed by third parties. He noted that even if any party held the right to seek relief delaying the bye-elections, it would be the election petitioners due to the potential possibility of two returned candidates for a single seat.

Vijay pointed out that no application had been filed by the election petitioner regarding the Tiruchirappalli (East) constituency, describing the PIL as a "proxy war" filed with ulterior motives. He stated that neither the petitioner nor the electors of the constituency had raised grievances on the matter, indicating an absence of public interest.

Vijay further argued that halting bye-elections would deprive several lakhs of voters in these constituencies of elected MLAs to represent their interests for an indefinite period, rendering the petition contrary to larger public interest.