The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the operation of a Madras High Court order restraining TVK MLA R Sreenivasa Sethupathi from voting in floor tests in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, while also staying further proceedings before the High Court in the election dispute matter.
A Bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Vijay Bishnoi, hearing Sethupathi’s challenge, issued notice to the respondent DMK leader KR Periakaruppan, who had contested the MLA’s narrow one-vote victory from the Tiruppattur Assembly constituency.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Sethupathi, submitted that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had also supported that the election petition is not maintainable before the High Court under Article 226.
The Court also expressed concern over the maintainability of the proceedings under Article 226 in an election-related dispute, observing:
“High Court says remedy is an election petition, still entertains the 226 petition and passes a stay order. This is atrocious, to say the least.”
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Periakaruppan, defended the High Court proceedings and explained that the dispute arose from an alleged postal ballot mix-up. According to Mr Rohatgi, a postal ballot intended for Constituency No. 185 was mistakenly sent to another constituency with a similar name, affecting the final outcome of the election.
“Had it come to the correct postal address, there would have been a tie,” he submitted.
However, Mr Singhvi argued that the Election Commission itself had clarified there was no statutory provision permitting the kind of recount or correction sought by the respondent. After hearing both sides, the Supreme Court issued notice and passed an interim order granting two weeks’ time to the respondent to file a reply. The Court ordered:
“In the meantime, the order shall remain stayed, further proceedings before the Court also stayed.”
Appearances
Respondent no.1 – Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi
For ECI- Senior advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu
Petitioner- Senior Adv Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi