A Madras High Court judge on Friday verbally observed that involving children in political campaigns is inappropriate, while hearing a petition alleging that the Tamil Nadu Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) party used children in its campaign during the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
Justice GR Swaminathan, who was hearing the matter along with Justice V Lakshminarayanan, shared an anecdote from his own experience and noted that even his grandson urged him to vote for TVK leader and TN Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.
“Using children is bad, isn’t it? When I was going to vote, my grandson would say, ‘Tatha, you should only vote for Vijay,'” Justice Swaminathan said.
Senior counsel S Muralidhar, who represented TVK, responded in a lighter vein, saying: “We live in a time when children tell their parents what to do.”
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Muralidhar also submitted before the bench that the allegations against TVK were based “entirely on press reports” and that the court would now have to examine larger questions relating to the scope of the Model Code of Conduct and the meaning of “undue influence” under the Representation of Persons Act.
He said the issue is essentially about whether the Election Commission of India (ECI) can take action on alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct after the elections have already concluded.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by advocate L Vasuki seeking a direction to the Election Commission to conduct an independent probe into the alleged electoral malpractices during the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, including the use of children in campaigning.
The PIL specifically referred to Chief Minister Vijay’s campaign speech at the YMCA grounds in Chennai on April 21, where he appealed to children to ensure that the adults in their families voted for TVK.
The petition claimed that the appeal amounts to exploitation of minor children for election propaganda and indirect influence on voters.
The petition also sought an investigation into allegations that members of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) distributed money in exchange for votes in certain constituencies during the elections.
Muralidhar further said that the law does not provide for disqualification of any political party for such behavior and he only considered deregistration in limited circumstances. He added that the court should also consider “whether it is possible to cancel the registration in this case.”
Senior advocate NR Elango, appearing for the DMK, argued that if the petitioner alleges corrupt electoral practices, the candidates concerned should be persuaded as parties to the proceedings.
ECI’s standing counsel Niranjan Rajagopal also sought time to file a counter affidavit.
The court postponed the hearing until July 1.
