The Madras High Court on Wednesday held that there was no legal bar for political parties to publish advertisements in the print media on the day of election and hence the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Bharatiya Janata Party councillors cannot be disqualified.
Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy dismissed a writ petition filed by advocate M.L. Ravi of Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi with costs of ₹10,000 to be deposited with Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority within 15 days.
The petitioner had urged the court to disqualify the councillors belonging to the DMK and BJP because both the parties had issued full page advertisements in newspapers on February 19 though the campaign for the urban local bodies polls ought to have concluded on February 17.
