ECI not to conduct bypolls to five constituencies in Tamil Nadu until disposal of election petitions, Madras High Court told

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday (August 24, 2026) informed the Madras High Court that it does not intend to notify bye-elections to the Tiruchi East, Perundurai, Ambasamudram, Viralimalai, and Karur Assembly constituencies until the disposal of election petitions with respect to these five constituencies.

The submission was made in a counter affidavit filed before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by K. Venkatachalapathy of Tirunelveli through his counsel V.R. Shanmuganathan.

Filing the counter affidavit through ECI standing counsel Niranjan Rajagopalan, Tamil Nadu’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Archana Patnaik said: “The commission does not propose to announce or notify bye-elections until the election petitions challenging the election of the returned candidates in the five constituencies are decided.”