The Madras High Court has extended its interim stay on notifying bypolls in five Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies until September 8. The decision came after the Election Commission of India (ECI) informed the court that it would not announce elections until pending election petitions concerning those seats are decided.

The five constituencies are Trichy East, Viralimalai, Perundurai, Ambasamudram, and Karur. One of them, Trichy East, holds particular significance as it is where Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay won in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Vijay, who also won from Perambur, retained the Perambur seat and vacated Trichy East, making the constituency a potential bypoll.

Court Proceedings and ECI Submission

The ECI's submission was made in a counter affidavit filed before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan. The affidavit was in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by K. Venkatachalapathy of Tirunelveli through his counsel V.R. Shanmuganathan.

The court's interim stay, first imposed earlier, remains in place as election petitions challenging the victories in these constituencies are pending before the court. The bench noted that the ECI has no plans to notify bypolls until the pending election cases are disposed of.

Government Opposition and Court's Ruling

The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government's side opposed the ECI's submission, seeking an early hearing of the matter and requesting that the interim stay be vacated. However, the court rejected the plea to lift the stay and extended the interim order until September 8.

The extension ensures that the Election Commission will not proceed with bypoll notifications for these five constituencies before that date, pending the resolution of the election petitions.