Tamil Nadu State Election Commission was on Tuesday pulled up by the Supreme Court over delay in conducting local polls in nine new districts. As the Apex court observed that the local elections have not been conducted for about two years in these districts, it gave a timeline till September 15, and emphasized: "Covid is a good excuse in all matters".

Senior Advocate PS Narasimh told the court that Covid cases in Tamil Nadu are "the highest in the country and delimitation has to be done in the newly carved out nine districts". The state has so far logged 24.29 lakh total coronavirus cases and 31,386 deaths. Even as Maharashtra, saw a drop in infections, Tamil Nadu had been witnessing a surge earlier this month. Justice Hemant Gupta, heading a two-judge bench, replied, "Covid is a good excuse in all matters."

The state election commission said it needed more time "because electronic voting machines will have to brought from the Election Commission, and delimitation has to be done". The Supreme Court finally said: "We will give you time till September 15 to complete the election process. It is only nine districts. if not done, we will initiate contempt action against the state poll body."   The top court later removed the contempt part from its order amid pleas from the election body.

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