The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a plea by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA R. Seenivasa Sethupathi challenging the Madras High Court’s interim order. The order restrains Sethupathi from participating in any floor test proceedings in the Tamil Nadu Assembly due to a dispute over his one-vote victory from the Tiruppattur Assembly constituency. The Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by Sethupathi was registered and is listed before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and Vijay Bishnoi for hearing.
Sethupathi moved the top court to challenge the interim order passed by a vacation Bench of the Madras High Court. This order restrains him from voting or participating in any floor test in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly until further orders. The interim direction was passed while hearing a writ petition filed by former Tamil Nadu Minister and DMK leader K.R. Periakaruppan, who lost the Tiruppattur Assembly seat by a margin of one vote.
The Madras High Court’s order highlighted a peculiar constitutional anomaly in the case. It involved a postal ballot mistakenly sent to a different constituency and rejected there, leading to serious irregularities in the counting process. The court emphasized the significance of every vote in an election decided by a margin of one vote, stating that every vote is potentially determinative.
The Madras High Court also directed election authorities to preserve all records related to the counting process, including postal ballot records and rejected postal ballot covers. It clarified that its interim order does not set aside Sethupathi’s election or confer any right upon the petitioner to be declared elected.
