Madras HC extends stay on bypolls in five Tamil Nadu seats till September 8

The Madras High Court on Monday extended till September 8 its interim stay on the notification of bypolls to five Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies, after the Election Commission of India (ECI) said it did not intend to announce the elections until pending election petitions concerning the seats were decided.

The five constituencies are Tiruchirappalli East, Viralimalai, Perundurai, Ambasamudram and Karur. Election petitions challenging the results in these constituencies following the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections are pending before the High Court.

Tiruchirappalli East is among the five seats and was won by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay in the Assembly polls. The TVK chief had contested and won from both Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East but subsequently retained Perambur and vacated the Tiruchirappalli East seat.

The other four seats also fell vacant after their respective legislators resigned, creating the possibility of by-elections. However, legal challenges to the original election results prompted the High Court to intervene before fresh polls could be notified.

EC says no immediate bypolls

During Monday's hearing, the Election Commission informed the court that it had no plans to notify by-elections in the five constituencies until the election petitions concerning the seats were disposed of.

The court had earlier restrained the poll body from announcing the by-elections and sought responses from the authorities and other parties concerned.

The TVK government opposed the Election Commission's stand and sought an early hearing of the matter. It also requested the court to vacate the interim stay, arguing against a prolonged delay in conducting elections to the vacant seats.

The High Court, however, declined to lift the interim protection and extended the stay until September 8.

The Tamil Nadu government also pressed for an expedited hearing, pointing out that the five constituencies currently remained without elected representatives.

Election disputes keep seats vacant

The legal dispute stems from election petitions challenging the victories of candidates in the five constituencies. The petitions have complicated the process of filling the vacancies because the outcome of the cases could have a bearing on the status of the original election results.

A public interest litigation had sought to prevent the Election Commission from conducting bypolls while the election petitions remained pending. The High Court subsequently imposed an interim restraint on the announcement of fresh elections.

The matter was heard on Monday by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan.

The court directed the parties concerned, including those involved in the pending election disputes, to file their responses and posted the matter for further hearing on September 8.

Until then, the Election Commission remains restrained from notifying bypolls in Tiruchirappalli East, Viralimalai, Perundurai, Ambasamudram and Karur, leaving the five Assembly seats vacant as the legal challenges continue.