Madras HC's 'autocratic India' warning after SC delays election petition
Madras HC's 'autocratic India' warning after SC delays election petition
The Madras High Court has expressed concern over the six-year delay in deciding an appeal related to the 2016 Radhapuram Assembly election dispute.
The case, which was pending in the Supreme Court until May 2026, involved DMK leader M Appavu, who had challenged the election of AIADMK candidate IS Inbadurai from the Radhapuram Assembly constituency.
Justice G Jayachandran observed that such delays undermine democracy and could lead India toward autocracy if courts continue to ignore statutory mandates.
'Grave mockery of justice'
The court said the case has become a "grave mockery of justice" and that failure to follow the statutory mandate under Section 86 of the Representation of People Act for the prompt disposal of election petitions will undermine democracy and the true spirit of adult franchise.
"If courts continue to ignore their own observations...I fear that this country may also go in the way of other autocratic countries which gained Independence around 75 years ago, along with us," it underscored.
HC declared Inbadurai's election void
As such, the high court allowed an election petition filed by Appavu.
The high court also declared Inbadurai's election void and held that Appavu was the duly elected member for Radhapuram for 2016-2021 term.
The controversy emerged when Appavu lost the 2016 election by 49 votes. He claimed that postal ballots cast in his favor were incorrectly rejected and that there were abnormalities in the counting of votes recorded on Electronic Voting Machines during the 19th, 20th, and 21st rounds.
High court ordered re-verification of all postal ballots
In October 2019, the High Court ordered that all postal ballots be re-verified and that the three rounds' EVM votes be recounted.
The high court noted that the recount revealed that Appavu had received 153 of the 203 postal ballots that had previously been declared invalid, while Inbadurai received just one.
Based on this, the court determined that Appavu had won by a margin of 103 votes in the 2016 Radhapuram election.
Inbadurai then challenged the order before the SC.
Supreme Court's stance on middle school headmasters' gazetted officer status
The same month, the SC allowed the counting process to proceed but stayed the result declaration.
The case remained pending for six years before it was disposed of on May 21, 2026, after the 2016-2021 Assembly term ended.
The SC, while disposing of the appeal, kept open the legal question of whether middle school headmasters are gazetted officers.
It observed that no useful purpose would be served in deciding the issue after the lapse of time and expiry of term.
Inbadurai wouldn't get pensionary benefits
However, Justice Jayachandran disagreed with this approach, saying it could not abdicate its constitutional responsibility merely because of the passage of time.
"This Court has....Constitutional duty and has taken a solemn oath to protect and preserve the Constitution," the high court opined.
The court ordered the Legislative Assembly Secretary to update official records with Appavu's name as Radhapuram's representative for the 2016-2021 term.
It also ruled that Inbadurai would not be disqualified but wouldn't get pensionary benefits for his term.