DMK leader withdraws plea in Madras High Court challenging one-vote defeat to TVK candidate

The Madras High Court on Thursday formally closed a petition by DMK leader KR Periakaruppan concerning his one-vote defeat in the 2026 Assembly elections to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA R Sreenivasa Sethupathi from the Tiruppattur Assembly constituency, after the said plea was withdrawn [KR Periakaruppan v. Chief Election Officer].

Notably, while hearing a related matter on July 21, the Supreme Court had allowed the withdrawal of the writ petition pending before the High Court after Periakaruppan sought permission for it.

A Bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadikari and Justice Arul Murugan took note of this while permitting the DMK leader to withdraw his plea.

“In fact, the present writ petition has been ordered to be withdrawn by the Honourable Supreme Court itself. On receipt of this order, we formally record that this writ petition stands dismissed as withdrawn,” the High Court said.

Periakaruppan had approached the High Court after losing to Sethupathi by a single vote in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

He alleged that a postal ballot meant for the Tiruppattur constituency in Sivagangai district was mistakenly sent to another Tiruppattur constituency. According to him, the Returning Officer of the other constituency rejected the ballot instead of forwarding it to the correct constituency.

Periakaruppan argued that the ballot could materially alter the election result. If counted in his favour, the contest would end in a tie and the winner would have to be decided by drawing lots.

He had sought directions to the election authorities to secure and account for the disputed postal ballot. He also sought the videographic footage of the reverification of rejected postal ballots.

On May 12, the High Court had restrained Sethupathi from participating in any floor test or other legislative proceeding involving the numerical strength of the House.

The Supreme Court stayed that order the following day and also stayed further proceedings before the High Court.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi termed the High Court order as "atrocious" since the same came to be passed in an Article 226 petition filed by Sethupathi's opposing candidate, and not an election petition as mandated under law.

On July 20, Periakaruppan's counsel told the Supreme Court that he wished to withdraw his plea from the High Court but could not do so since there was an interim order staying further proceedings before the High Court.

On July 21, the top court allowed Periakaruppan's application seeking the withdrawal of his plea from the High Court.

"The Writ Petition bearing no. 19287 of 2026 pending before the High Court stands withdrawn. Formal orders may be passed by the High Court upon receipt of copy of this order," the top court added.

In view of this, the petition before the High Court has now been dismissed as withdrawn.