TVK MLA moves Supreme Court against Madras HC order restraining him from voting in floor tests

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA R Seenivasa Sethupathi has moved the Supreme Court against an order passed by the Madras High Court today restraining him from voting in any floor test or trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly [Seenivasa Sethupathi Vs Periakaruppan].

The plea was mentioned for urgent hearing before the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant by Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The Court has agreed to list it for hearing tomorrow.

Sethupathi had won from No.185 Tiruppattur Assembly Constituency in Sivagangai district by a margin of one vote against Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and former minister KR Periakaruppan.

Periakaruppan later moved the Madras High Court, alleging discrepancies in the counting process. He also claimed that a postal ballot was not counted after it was sent to the wrong constituency.

The High Court today passed an interim order on Periakaruppan’s petition, restraining Sethupathi from participating in legislative assembly proceedings till further orders.

The order meant that the TVK-led alliance would have a wafer thin majority of one MLA in the 234-strong Tamil Nadu legislative assembly. The TVK alliance currently has 120 MLAs in the house. With the High Court's order, only 119 can participate in the house proceedings.

Before the High Court, Periakaruppan had alleged that one postal ballot meant for No.185 Tiruppattur Assembly Constituency was wrongly sent to No.50 Tiruppattur Assembly Constituency in Tirupattur district.

According to Periakaruppan, the postal ballot was handled and rejected at No.50 Tiruppattur even though it allegedly belonged to his constituency. He argued that the ballot ought to have been sent to the correct Returning Officer instead of being rejected.

Periakaruppan also alleged discrepancies in the EVM vote figures. He claimed that there was an 18-vote difference between the consolidated counting abstract and figures available on the Election Commission website.

In its order today, the High Court had said that a strong prima facie case had been made out for a limited protective order.

It restrained Sethupathi from voting or otherwise taking part in any floor test, including a confidence motion, no-confidence motion, trust vote or any voting proceeding in the Tamil Nadu Assembly where the numerical strength of the House is tested.

However, the High Court clarified that the interim order would not amount to setting aside Sethupathi’s election. It also said that the order would not confer any right on Periakaruppan to be declared elected.

It has also issued directions to secure and preserve records relating to the counting of votes in No.185 Tiruppattur Assembly Constituency and the preservation of video footage relating to counting, scrutiny, rejection of postal ballots and reverification in its original electronic form along with backup copies.

Sethupathi’s plea before Supreme Court challengiing the High Court's interim order was filed through advocates Dixita Gohil, Pranjal Agarwal, Rupali Samuel and Yash S Vijay.