The Madras High Court on Wednesday held as valid, the election conducted for South Indian Film Artistes Association (SIAA), popularly known as Nadigar Sangam, in 2019 and ordered counting of votes from ballot boxes, which have been kept in a bank locker since then. The court directed the election officer to open the ballot boxes, count the votes and declare the results.
Justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and Mohammed Shaffiq ordered that the entire process of declaration of results must be completed within four weeks. However, when a counsel for some members of the association sought time to approach the Supreme Court, the judges added a line to their verdict that the declaration of results should not be done before three weeks.
Allowing an appeal, the Division Bench agreed with senior counsel M.K. Kabir, E. Omprakash and Krishna Ravindran that the elections held on June 23, 2019, were perfectly in order and hence a single judge of the High Court ought not to have declared the election as null and void in January 2020 and ordered fresh elections within three months by appointing a new Election Officer.
The elections for SIAA were declared in 2019 when actors Vishal Krishna, Nasser and Karthi were at the helm of affairs. However, the then Registrar of Societies passed an executive order suspending the elections indefinitely since a few members had lodged a complaint alleging removal of their names from the electoral rolls. Immediately, the Nadigar Sangam approached the High Court.
Justice P.D. Audikesavalu stayed the Registrar’s order on June 21 and permitted the conduct of the election on June 23 with a rider that the votes should not be counted until final disposal of the writ petition. On June 22, Justice N. Anand Venkatesh too passed an order directing the police to provide protection at the election venue and, accordingly, the election was held in Chennai.
However, after taking up the writ petition for final disposal, Justice K. Kalyanasundaram, in January 2020, declared the elections held on June 23, 2019 as null and void. The judge said, the three-year tenure of the three actors who held the posts of general secretary, president and treasurer had come to an end on October 2018 and therefore all actions taken by them pursuant to that date, should be considered invalid in law.
He also ordered fresh elections within three months by appointing a new Election Officer. Hence the Nadigar Sangam had moved the present writ appeal.
