On Wednesday, a division bench of the Madras High Court ruled that the elections for The South Indian Artistes’ Association (SIAA) or Nadigar Sangam held in June 2019, is valid and declared the opening of sealed ballot boxes. The order further restrained the announcement of results for three weeks.
The case was heard by Justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and Mohammed Shaffiq. The bench passed the order, setting aside the single judge order issued in January 2020, which aimed to quash the 2019 election. Further, it ordered a retired judge as the election officer to preside over the new elections within three months. The 2020 order was passed based on the plea initiated by actors Ezhumalai and Benjamin.
However, actors Vishal, Karthi and Nasser, who also serve as SIAA office bearers, challenged the single judge order before the division bench, which heard the case on Wednesday. The bench observed,”The elections held on July 23, 2019, is valid. The sealed ballot boxes which are kept in the bank locker can be opened under the supervision of the election officer and the votes could be counted within four weeks.”
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It is to be noted that after Ezhumalai and Benjamin said that they will appeal against the division bench’s order before the Supreme Court, citing that their right to vote was denied in 2019, the court enforced an interim stay to the election officer from announcing the results for three weeks. Silverscreen India had earlier reported that a letter signed by the District Registrar in June 2019, mentioned that the Sangam has violated rules by taking disciplinary action against some of its members. This made them ineligible to vote, following which Ezhumalai and Benjamin appealed before the court.
Further, on October 26, 2021, the division bench had appointed an officer from the state government to be in charge of the day-to day activities of the Nadigar Sangam.