Madras High Court rejects election petition against TVK MLA N Elaiyaraja

The Madras High Court on Tuesday rejected an election petition challenging the victory of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA N Elaiyaraja from the Uthangarai Assembly constituency. [Geetha Vs Elayaraja]

Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy allowed an application filed by Elaiyaraja seeking rejection of the election petition instituted by a voter, one C Geetha.

The Court held that Geetha’s rights concerning the deletion of her name from the electoral roll had already been decided in an earlier petition filed by her.

It observed that although the last paragraph of the earlier decision had granted her liberty to pursue an available remedy, the order had categorically held that she should have applied for the inclusion of her name within the specific timeline prescribed under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

“In the result, application filed to reject the election petition, stands allowed. Consequently, Election Petition stands rejected,” the Court said in open court.

A detailed copy of the judgment is awaited.

Geetha had earlier moved the High Court claiming that her name had been erroneously deleted from the electoral roll for the Uthangarai constituency. She sought restoration of her electoral entry to enable her to contest the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections as an independent candidate from Uthangarai and Bargur.

She claimed that her name had figured in the electoral roll for several years and that she discovered its deletion only when she attempted to file her nomination papers.

On April 7, the High Court rejected her petition after noting that the SIR process prescribed specific timelines for filing claims and objections. The Court held that Geetha ought to have remained vigilant and sought the inclusion of her name within the stipulated period.

Geetha subsequently approached the Supreme Court against the decision.

On April 10, a Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi declined to interfere. The Election Commission of India had opposed her plea on the ground that she had approached the authorities too late.

Elaiyaraja went on to win the Uthangarai constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. He secured 70,201 votes and defeated AIADMK candidate TM Tamilselvam by a margin of 5,198 votes.

Geetha thereafter filed the election petition challenging his victory. Elaiyaraja responded by moving the present application for its rejection.

Elaiyaraja was recently at the centre of an alleged horse-trading controversy after he complained to the Chennai Police that he had been offered ₹35 crore to vote against Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar in a proposed no-confidence motion.

He alleged that he and his family were threatened after he rejected the offer. The complaint led to the registration of a criminal case and multiple arrests. Those allegations remain under investigation and are unrelated to the election dispute.