Madras High Court extends stay on by-election to five constituencies till August 24

The Madras High Court on Friday (July 30, 2026) extended till August 24, 2026 an interim order passed by it on July 10, 2026 restraining the Election Commission of India (ECI) from notifying byelections to Tiruchi East, Perundurai, Ambasamudram, Viralimalai, and Karur Assembly constituencies.Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan extended the interim order since the case, in which it was passed, could not be taken up for hearing on Friday and the Election Commission of India as well as the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Secretary were yet to file their counter affidavits.The interim injunction was ordered by the court following a writ petition filed by K. Venkatachalapathy of Tirunelveli through his counsel V.R. Shanmuganathan. The petitioner told the court the by-elections were necessitated because of the resignation of the elected members.However, pointing out their election had been challenged before the High Court by way of individual election petitions, the petitioner said the conduct of by-elections during the pendency of the election petitions could lead to an anomalous situation of each of these constituencies being represented by two MLAs if the election petitions get allowed in favour of the petitioners who had sought to declare them as the returned candidates. Published - August 01, 2026 12:23 am IST