Nadigar Sangam polls invalid, TN govt tells HC

The Madras High Court was hearing a group of petitions related to the election in the South Indian Film Artist Association, also known as Nadigar Sangam.
Nadigar Sangam polls invalid, TN govt tells HC
Nadigar Sangam polls invalid, TN govt tells HC
Written by:

The Tamil Nadu government has argued that the election conducted by the Nadigar Sangam in the state is invalid since it was not held according to the bye-laws of the film association. The statement was made in the Madras High Court by the government of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, as the court was hearing a group of petitions related to the election in the South Indian Film Artist Association, also known as Nadigar Sangam. Though the elections have taken place, the counting has not taken place due to a stay order.

One of the petitions, filed by actors Benjamin and Ezhumalai, sought the invalidation of the elections since the two members were not allowed to vote. In their petition, they had also alleged irregularities in the postal ballots and had pointed out that the announcement for the elections was issued after the tenure of the office-bearers ended. 

The Registrar of Societies had ordered a stay on the elections after the names of 61 members were allegedly removed from the rolls just days before the election on June 23. Actor Vishal, the General Secretary of the association, had then filed a plea against the stay in the High Court. These cases came up for hearing before Justice Kalyana Sundaram on Tuesday.

The counsel, who appeared on behalf of actor Vishal, stated that 80% of the voting has been recorded in the elections and that till new office-bearers are elected, the existing office-bearers can continue to retain their posts even though their tenure had ended.

On October 5, the Tamil Nadu government sent a show-cause notice to Nadigar Sangam, stating that the association did not have proper management. In the absence of a duly elected committee of office-bearers, the government also asked why it shouldn't appoint a special officer to manage the day-to-day affairs of the association.  To this, Vishal said that had the state government not interfered in the matter, new office-bearers would have taken charge by now, and would have continued to carry out the responsibilities of the association.

"The fact remains that the declaration of election results and consequential assumption of charge by the committee members is likely to get delayed on account of pendency of election-related disputes in the High Court. As a result, disbursement of funds to the poor artists in the form of educational fund, medical support and other activities have come to a halt," the notice read.

In response to the counsel for the association, the government argued that the Registrar of Societies had the right to inquire on the complaints filed by members and to appoint special officers to monitor the responsibilities of the association. He also submitted that as per bye-laws of the association, there is no provision to extend the tenure by six months and hence the election conducted by these office-bearers are invalid and clarified that the state government did not interfere in the election procedures of the association.

Elections in the Nadigar Sangam are held once every three years to elect the president and other members of the group. The last elections were held in 2015 and Nassar was elected as the president. His term ended in October 2018.

The case has now been posted to October 18 for the next hearing.

 
 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com