The Tokyo High Court has rejected a suit filed by lawyers seeking an injunction to halt the Dec. 16 general election on grounds the Supreme Court has ruled the vote weight disparity between constituencies is in "a state of unconstitutionality."
"There are no (applicable) legal provisions so the lawsuit itself is unlawful," presiding Judge Fumio Shimoda said Wednesday as he upheld last week's lower court ruling. The lawyers immediately appealed the ruling to the top court.
The high court also upheld the Tokyo District Court's Nov. 21 rejection of a separate petition filed by the lawyers for a preliminary injunction to halt the poll.
The lawyers filed the suit and the petition after Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda dissolved the Lower House on Nov. 16.