Chennai: Madras high court has ordered notice to the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission and the state government on a petition filed against extending the tenure of Special Officers to the Urban and Rural local bodies of the state beyond June 30.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M. Sundar before whom the PIL filed by activist A. Narayanan came up for hearing, posted it to June 30.

In his PIL, Narayanan sought to declare the Tamil Nadu Municipal Laws (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 2016, the Tamil Nadu Panchayats (Third Amendment) Ordinance 2016 and the subsequent government orders enabling such appointments (Special Officers) in the absence of elected representatives, as ultra vires of the Constitution.

According to Narayanan, cancellation of elections to local bodies, especially after the notification was issued, failure to conduct the ordinary elections before the expiry of the term of the elected panchayats, promulgamation of the Ordinance for inserting section 375-B and section 261-A (provision to appoint special officers) in the Local Bodies Act, with a validity up to December 31, 2016, orders appointing special officers up to December 31, 2016 and their extension till June 30 were all acts of commissions which were all serious violations of the Constitution of India.

Senior counsel N.L. Rajah appearing for the petitioner said there was no provision in the Constitution enabling appointment of special officers, especially when the tenure of an elected local body had come to an end.