Chennai: Tamil Nadu government will challenge the single judge order of the Madras High Court staying the local body polls.

The government has decided to appeal against the order passed by Mr Justice N Kirubakaran that stayed the local body polls slated for October 17 and 19 and called for fresh notifications. He also directed that the entire process must be completed before December 30.

This order is a setback to the chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who is fighting for life in Appolo Hospital, where she was admitted on September 22 with complaints of fever and dehydration. The hospital has also admitted that it was treating her for infection.

The government indicated that it would file an appeal against the single bench order on Wednesday.
But the entire opposition, that had complained against the schedule and the hurry with which the election panel announced the schedule, welcomed the high court decision.

Now the poll panel has to come up with fresh notifications for polls. Incidentally, Tuesday was the last day for filing nominations as per the original schedule.

The Madras High Court judge, Justice N Kirubakaran, took up bunch of petitions challenging the poll schedule including one by the DMK observed that reservation of seats and wards for different categories was not properly followed for the polls.

The DMK had approached the court with allegations that adequate reservations had not been provided to the ST community as mandated by the Constitution. It also complained against the hurried manner in which the polls were announced.