SC stays Madras HC's order on plea by TVK MLA against restraint on vote in TN Assembly

A bench of Justices found the order as atrocious after hearing senior advocates A M Singhvi for the petitioner and Mukul Rohatgi for respondent DMK leader and former minister K R Periakaruppan.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Madras High Court order's order on a plea by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA R Seenivasa Sethupathi that restrained him from participating in any floor test or trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi found the order as atrocious after hearing senior advocates A M Singhvi for the petitioner and Mukul Rohatgi for respondent DMK leader and former minister K R Periakaruppan.

The apex court stayed the High Court's order and further proceedings over there after questioning the filing of writ petition instead of election petition.

Singhvi contended the writ petition was filed on Saturday and heard on Sunday.

Rohatgi, for his part, said the facts of the matter were such which required exercise of extraordinary jurisdiction, as one postal ballot was mistaken delivered to another constituency.

The court, however, observed that the remedy was only election petition in the matter.

Sethupathi won the No. 185 Tiruppattur Assembly seat in Sivaganga district by a razor-thin margin of just one vote against Periakaruppan.

Periakaruppan subsequently approached the Madras High Court, alleging discrepancies in the counting process, particularly claiming that a postal ballot meant for the constituency was not counted as it was erroneously sent to the wrong Tiruppattur segment (No. 50 in Vellore district).

A division bench of Justices L Victoria Gowri and N Senthil Kumar passed an interim order restraining Sethupathi from taking part in the proceedings of the Assembly till further orders. 

The High Court observed that allowing him to vote while the dispute remained pending could affect the stability of the government and held that the balance of convenience favoured restraining his participation.

The DMK leader had earlier complained to the Election Commission over the alleged mishandling of the postal ballot but approached the High Court after no action was taken. 

The court noted prima facie merit in his petition and ordered preservation of records.

The Supreme Court's order comes as a boost for the ruling dispensation in Tamil Nadu led by Chief Minister Joseph Vijay, which have just got a razor-thin majority in the Assembly.