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A Madras High Court judge on Friday orally observed that involving children in political campaigning was inappropriate, while hearing a plea alleging that the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) used children in its campaign during the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

The court adjourned the hearing to July 1. (Image sourced from Chennai Tourism)Justice GR Swaminathan, who was hearing the matter along with Justice V Lakshminarayanan, shared an anecdote from his own experience and remarked that even his grandchild had urged him to vote for TVK leader and TN chief minister C Joseph Vijay.

“Using children is bad, right? When I was going to vote, my grandchild was saying, taatha you have to vote for Vijay only,” Justice Swaminathan said.

Senior counsel S Muralidhar, who was appearing for TVK, responded in a lighter vein, “We live in a time when kids are telling parents what to do.”

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Muralidhar also submitted before the bench that the allegations against TVK rested “entirely on newspaper reports” and that the court would now have to examine larger questions concerning the scope of the Model Code of Conduct and the meaning of “undue influence” under the Representation of the People Act.

He argued that the case essentially concerned whether the Election Commission of India (ECI) could take action for alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct after elections had 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 inquiry into alleged electoral malpractices during the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, including the use of children in campaigns.

The PIL specifically referred to a campaign speech delivered by chief minister Vijay at the YMCA grounds in Chennai on April 21, where he appealed to children to ensure that adults in their families voted for TVK.

The plea alleged that the appeal amounted to exploitation of minor children for electoral propaganda and indirect voter influence.

The petition also sought an inquiry into allegations that members of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) distributed cash for votes in certain constituencies during the elections.

Muralidhar further argued that the law did not provide for disqualification of a political party for such conduct and only contemplated deregistration in limited circumstances. The court would therefore also have to consider “whether deregistration could arise in the present case,” he said.

Senior advocate NR Elango, appearing for the DMK, argued that if the petitioner alleged corrupt electoral practices, the concerned returned candidates ought to have been impleaded as parties to the proceedings.

ECI’s standing counsel Niranjan Rajagopal also sought time to file a counter affidavit.