Madras High Court dismisses the Perundurai election petition
Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy rejected D.M.K. candidate Thoppu Venkatachalam’s challenge to S. Jayakumar’s victory, clearing one legal block on a by-election.
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Erode: The Madras High Court has given an important order in the case over the Perundurai Assembly election. It dismissed the election petition filed by D.M.K. candidate Thoppu Venkatachalam against the victory of S. Jayakumar, who won on an A.I.A.D.M.K. ticket.
Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy rejected the petition.
Jayakumar won Perundurai for the A.I.A.D.M.K. in the last Assembly election, then resigned as MLA and joined Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. Venkatachalam asked the High Court to set aside that victory and declare him elected instead.
Resignations left five seats vacant: Tiruchi East, Perundurai, Ambasamudram, Viralimalai, and Karur. By-elections were due, but pending challenges to the original results created a legal difficulty. The Election Commission told the court that if petitioners were still asking to be declared elected, a by-election could leave two people claiming the same seat.
The five by-elections were therefore not announced while the cases were open. With the Perundurai petition now dismissed, one legal obstacle on that seat has gone. Political circles are asking whether the remaining bar on a by-election has lifted, and what the Commission will do next.
Orders in the other four cases are still expected, and the by-election field in Tamil Nadu is likely to move on once they arrive.