The Madras High Court dispensed with the personal appearance of the principal secretary of the Election Commission K F Wilfred for the day but directed him to appear on October 13 with necessary documents in connection with the attestation of former chief minister Jayalalithaa's thumb impression on documents relating to a bypoll last year.
Nirajan Rajagopalan, counsel for Election Commission of India, submitted that the official could not appear today as earlier directed by the court as he was busy with the 'Two Leaves' symbol case which came up before the EC in New Delhi today.
Recording the submission, the judge directed the counsel to ensure the appearance of Wilfred on October 13 without fail.
The matter relates to a plea filed by P Saravanan, DMK candidate for the November 2016 Thirupparankundram assembly bypoll, challenging the election of AIADMK candidate A K Bose.
During the pendency of the case, he filed an additional affidavit questioning the validity of the election documents.
He contended that the thumb impression of Jayalalithaa had been obtained without her consent and knowledge, while she was unconscious with the "connivance" of doctors who attended to the former chief minister, and others.
He had also questioned the decision taken by the Election Commission to accept the left thumb impression of Jayalalithaa affixed on documents filed in support of the nomination papers.
He further submitted that following the attestation, the AIADMK candidate (Bose) was allowed to contest using 'two leaves' symbol under the 'defective form A and form B' of the documents, which had materially "affected the outcome of the election".
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