The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday informed the Madras High Court that actor Vijay’s political outfit, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), was not a recognised political party.
Appearing before the bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan, advocate Niranjan Rajagopal submitted that as per ECI norms, TVK did not meet the criteria to qualify as a recognised state party. To be recognised, a party must secure at least 6% of the valid votes polled and two seats in the Assembly, or one in the Lok Sabha, among other benchmarks set by the ECI, as reported by Live Law.
The submissions were made during the hearing of a plea seeking to deregister or derecognise TVK and to include additional charges against actor Vijay in the FIR filed over the Karur stampede incident that took place during a political rally on September 27 which claimed 41 lives.
The petitioner, an advocate practising before the Madurai Bench, alleged that the rally was held in a congested venue and that due to gross negligence and violation of permissions, 40 people, including children and elderly persons, lost their lives, while several others were injured.
The plea argued that the organisers violated fundamental rights under Articles 21 and 21A of the Constitution and breached provisions under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, the Juvenile Justice Act, and the Representation of People Act.
The petitioner also cited a Bombay High Court judgment in Chetan Bharatkumar Dhakan v. State of Maharashtra, which prohibited the use of minors in election campaigns and directed the ECI to frame strict guidelines against such practices.
Further, the plea sought directions to the ECI to deregister the party for alleged electoral misconduct, to enforce a ban on using children in political rallies, and to order actor Vijay to compensate victims’ families with Rs 1 crore each.
The bench observed that the request to alter the FIR against Vijay would be covered by the Supreme Court’s order directing a CBI probe into the stampede.
It directed the Registry to place all matters connected with the Karur incident before the administrative side of the High Court to constitute a special bench to handle them, except those already pending before the apex court.
