As India is a Developing Country, the role played by the judiciary is immense towards the development of the country legal prospective. Same happen when the bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ram Moorthy of Madras High Court made the observation while hearing the Suo moto case concerning COVID-19 related issues in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The Hon’ble High Court Said that “Two aspects cannot be missed. First, is the Union’s endeavour to indicate that surge in (COVID-19) numbers may be unexpected and prefatory measures have been taken for quite some time. Second aspect is the Election commission’s concern about sensationalism. The Post-Mortem on either count may have to wait particularly in light of immediate measures that may be put in place,”.

The Madras High Court came down heavily on the Election Commission of India for allowing political rallies during the COVID-19 pandemic. A visibly upset Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee told the Election Commission’s counsel “Your institution is singularly responsible for the second wave of COVID-19”. The Chief Justice went to the extent of orally saying “Your officers should be booked on murder charges probably”.

The Chief Justice observed that the Commission had failed to enforce COVID norms regarding wearing of facemasks, use of sanitizers and maintaining social distancing during election campaigning, despite court orders. Public health is of paramount importance and it is distressing that constitutional authorities have to be reminded in such regard. It is only when a citizen survives that he’ll be able to enjoy the rights that a democratic republic guarantees”, the Chief Justice further added. “The situation now is of survival and protection. Everything else comes next”, the Chief Justice said.

The bench, also comprising Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, directed the Election Commission of India and the Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer to hold consultations with the Health Secretary and come up with a plan on following COVID-19 protocol on the counting day.

Keywords: Political Rallies, Election Commission, Constitutional Authorities, Sensationalism, Democratic, Republic

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