PIL seeks ban on use of plastics in electioneering

Citing problems posed by indiscriminate use of plastic, a PIL has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the Election Commission to prevent its use in campaign materials such as flags and festoons and treat any violation as an electoral offence.
When the petition by lawyer A P Suryaprakasam of Congress came up for hearing, a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Sathyanarayana issued notices to the Election Commission and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.
Directing the respondents to file an affidavit, the bench posted the matter to March 1 for further hearing.

The petitioner submitted he had given a representation to the authorities in October last year, suggesting that parties which use plastic banners and flags could even be banned and their candidates debated from contesting during the coming assembly elections in the state.
With assembly elections in Tamil Nadu just a few months away, unless the indiscriminate use of plastic was banned, it would cause further damage to the state which had already been adversely affected by flood due to destruction of waterbodies, Suryaprakasam said.
He pleaded with the court to direct the Election Commission to issue necessary circulars asking authorities to prevent political parties from using plastic materials.