The Madras High Court on Monday closed a contempt of court petition filed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) organisation secretary R.S. Bharathi in 2017 against the then Tamil Nadu State Election Commissioner P. Seetharaman and a few other bureaucrats for not holding local body polls in the State despite specific directions issued by the court.
Justices M.M. Sundresh and S.M. Subramaniam of the court closed the contempt plea after Raja Srinivas, counsel representing the Greater Chennai Corporation, informed the Bench that the present DMK government was keen on conducting the civic polls at the earliest. He said the issue was under contemplation though the dates were yet to be announced.
The judges recorded the submission and closed the case. Apart from Mr. Seetharaman, the contempt plea had been filed against the then TNSEC secretary T.S. Rajasekhar, Rural Development Secretary Hans Raj Varma, Municipal Administration Secretary K. Phanindra Reddy, Director of Town Panchayats K. Maharabushanam and the then GCC Commissioner D. Karthikeyan.
