The Kerala High Court on Wednesday declined to interfere with a plea filed by film director V M Vinu, who is contesting as the Congress mayoral candidate for the Kozhikode Corporation in the upcoming local body elections, seeking reinstatement of his name in the voters list.
Justice P V Kunhikrishnan said Vinu had the responsibility to verify whether his name appeared in the electoral roll and could not seek special consideration on account of his public profile. The court observed that simply being a celebrity was not a ground for preferential treatment.
Vinu alleged that his name was removed from the Kozhikode Corporation voters list due to political rivalry. The court, however, was not convinced and found no reason to intervene.
While addressing the director’s arguments, Justice Kunhikrishnan referred to an earlier case involving Vyshna S L, a 24-year-old Congress candidate from the Muttada division of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. Her name had been removed at the last moment, prompting the court to step in earlier this week.
In her case, the court had directed the State Election Commission to consider her appeal for reinstatement, remarking that “democracy should prevail over technicality and party politics.”
The judge clarified that Vinu’s situation was factually different from Vyshna’s, and therefore did not warrant similar intervention.
