Relevance: GS-2 (Polity, Constitution, & Elections)  | Source: Indian Express

1. The Core Issue

The Madras High Court passed an extraordinary order stopping a Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA from voting in a crucial Assembly floor test.

• The Reason: The MLA won by just one vote. A defeated candidate challenged this, citing missing postal ballots and EVM mismatches.

2. The Administrative Error

• The Mix-Up: A postal ballot meant for Tiruppattur (Constituency No. 185) was accidentally sent to Tirupattur (Constituency No. 50).
• The Procedural Vacuum: The receiving officer simply rejected it. The Election Commission admitted that the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, has no law or procedure for transferring a wrongly sent postal ballot back to the correct constituency.

3. Constitutional Friction (Can Courts Interfere?)

• The General Rule (Article 329b): The Constitution strictly bars (stops) courts from interfering in elections. Disputes can only be solved by filing an Election Petition under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, after the results.
• The HC Exception: To bypass this, the High Court used the Ashok Kumar (2000) Supreme Court ruling. This ruling allows judicial intervention in very rare cases to protect evidence or remove severe obstacles.
• The HC Reasoning: An Election Petition takes years. If this one disputed vote decided the entire state government during the immediate floor test, but was later found invalid, the damage to democracy would be permanent.

UPSC Value Box 

• Article 329(b): Bars courts from interfering in electoral matters; disputes are handled only via Election Petitions.
• Election Petition: The only legal mechanism to challenge a parliamentary or assembly election, filed in the High Court.
• Floor Test: A legislative vote to determine if the ruling government still has the majority support of the house.

With reference to the Constitution of India and Electoral Laws, consider the following statements:

1. Article 329(b) prohibits courts from entertaining any challenge to an election except through an Election Petition.
2. An Election Petition under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, can only be filed before the results are officially declared.
3. The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, currently provides a statutory mechanism for the transfer of misrouted postal ballots between constituencies.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2 only (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3

Correct Answer: (a)