Chennai: The Madras High Court has observed that MLAs resigning within a short period amounts to an insult to the voters who elected them, while hearing a petition related to the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly by-elections.
The petition sought a stay on the bypolls and urged the framing of procedures to make the resigning MLAs responsible for the expenses of the by-elections.
After hearing the matter, the judge ruled that the by-elections for Madurantakam and Dharapuram cannot be stayed. The court also remarked that resigning after being elected on public trust and then contesting again after joining another party is “farce-like”.
The judge further said the Election Commission should examine measures to prevent such resignations and also stop candidates from resigning and re-contesting in the same constituency.
The case has now been transferred to a bench headed by the Chief Justice for further hearing.
