The Madras High Court has directed the Election Commission to submit its response to a petition challenging the tender floated for live “webcasting” of election activities at polling stations.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly election is scheduled for April 23, with around 75,000 polling booths to be set up across the state. To monitor polling booths and vote-counting centres, the Election Commission issued a tender on March 3 for webcasting services.
The petition was filed by Chennai-based I-Net Secure Labs Private Limited, which objected to several eligibility conditions, including a requirement that participating firms have an annual turnover of Rs 100 crore. The company argued that the condition was unreasonable and sought cancellation of the tender, stating it had 1.80 lakh web cameras while only 1.50 lakh would be needed.
Appearing for the Election Commission, counsel said the number of cameras planned for the upcoming election would be tripled from the previous poll, rising from 45,000 to 1.50 lakh. The EC argued that the conditions were framed to ensure only capable firms participate, and noted that the petitioner had not taken part in the tender process.
After hearing both sides, a bench comprising Chief Justice S.A. Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan asked the Election Commission to respond and adjourned the matter.
