EC tells Madras High Court no bar on Perundurai bypoll after petition rejected

The Election Commission of India has informed the Madras High Court that the legal obstacle to holding a byelection in the Perundurai Assembly constituency has been removed, following the rejection of an election petition relating to that seat on September 8, 2026.

In written submissions filed in response to a public interest litigation petition, the Commission said the Perundurai bypoll could be conducted before November 24, 2026, provided the Supreme Court does not grant a stay. It added that the poll would also depend on the Chief Justice's Bench exempting Perundurai from an interim order passed on July 10, 2026, which restrained the Commission from notifying bypolls to five vacant constituencies where election petitions were pending in the High Court.

The matter is before Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan.

For the other four constituencies — Tiruchi East, Ambasamudram, Viralimalai and Karur — the Commission said byelections cannot be notified until the election petitions are decided. Those petitions were filed along with pleas seeking to declare either the petitioners or other candidates as returned candidates.

Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, who vacated Tiruchi East and retained Perambur after winning both seats in the general elections, had argued that he resigned before DMK candidate S. Inigo Irudayaraj filed an election petition. The Commission, however, said the timing of the resignation was immaterial.

It explained that it would not matter whether an election petition was filed before or after the resignation, because either way a constituency could face the anomalous situation of being represented by two individuals if someone else is declared the returned candidate by the election tribunal after a bypoll is held.

The Commission maintained that the deferment of bypolls was "neither indefinite nor indiscriminate," and that the bar would end as soon as the election tribunal disposes of a plea made along with an election petition to declare either the petitioner or another candidate as the returned candidate. It noted that this had already happened in the case of Perundurai.

The Commission also pointed to Section 86(7) of the Representation of People Act, 1951, which requires every election petition to be disposed of as expeditiously as possible, with an endeavour to conclude the trial within six months. It said it fully recognised the importance of every constituency being represented and would welcome any direction the court considers appropriate for the expeditious disposal of the pending election petitions.