The Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed a writ petition filed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin to order counting of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips of the Kolathur assembly constituency, and to consequently declare him the returned candidate after nullifying election of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA VS Babu.
Supreme Court Dismisses Stalin’s Election Plea
The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan, ruled that former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s plea regarding election verification is “not maintainable.”
Stalin, who lost the recent election by 8,795 votes—receiving 74,202 votes compared to Babu’s 82,997—had filed his application for verification within three days of the election results being announced on May 4. According to Sibal, representing Stalin, the Supreme Court mandates that any application for such verification must be submitted within seven days of the election results.
ECI had argued that Stalin’s writ petition was not maintainable given Article 329(b) of the Constitution and Section 80 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which categorically states that an election to a parliamentary or Assembly constituency can be challenged only by way of an election petition.
Entertaining a “cleverly and artfully” drafted writ petition to set aside an election would lead to the “opening of a pandora’s box,” ECI had said.
