New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) In relief to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA R. Seenivasa Sethupathi, the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Madras High Court’s interim order restraining him from participating in any floor test proceedings in the Tamil Nadu Assembly amid a dispute over his one-vote victory from the Tiruppattur Assembly constituency.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi passed the interim order while hearing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by Sethupathi challenging the Madras High Court’s direction.

Terming the High Court order as “atrocious”, the apex court questioned how a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution could be entertained in an election dispute when the law provides for an election petition as the appropriate remedy.

“This is atrocious to say the least,” the Justice Nath-led Bench remarked during the hearing. It questioned senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for DMK leader K.R. Periakaruppan, how a writ petition challenging an election result could be maintained before the Madras High Court. “This is atrocious. The High Court says remedy is an election petition and still entertains the writ petition,” the Supreme Court remarked.

After hearing the submissions on behalf of the parties, the apex court ordered, “We have heard the senior counsels for the parties. Counsel for the respondent is granted two weeks to file a reply. In the meantime, the impugned order shall remain stayed. Further proceedings before the High Court also stayed.”

Sethupathi had moved the top court challenging the interim order passed by a vacation Bench of the Madras High Court restraining him from “voting or otherwise taking part in any floor test, including confidence motion, no-confidence motion, trust vote or any voting proceeding in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly where the numerical strength of the House is tested, until further orders”.

A Bench of Justices L. Victoria Gowri and N. Senthilkumar had passed the interim direction while hearing a writ petition filed by former Tamil Nadu Minister and DMK leader K.R. Periakaruppan, who lost the Tiruppattur Assembly seat in Sivaganga district by a margin of just one vote.

According to the official results declared by the Election Commission of India (ECI), Sethupathi secured 83,365 votes, while Periakaruppan polled 83,364 votes. Periakaruppan had alleged serious irregularities in the counting process and claimed that a postal ballot meant for Tiruppattur Assembly constituency No.185 in Sivaganga district was mistakenly sent to Tiruppattur Assembly constituency No. 50 in Tiruppattur district near Vellore and was rejected there instead of being transmitted back to the correct constituency.

The Madras High Court had said that the controversy was not a routine election dispute involving recounting or rejection of votes simpliciter, but arose from “an antecedent administrative failure in preserving the integrity of the electoral chain itself”.

Referring to the razor-thin margin of victory, the High Court had observed that in an election decided by one vote, “every vote is not merely relevant; it is potentially determinative”.

During the hearing before the Madras High Court, the ECI had opposed the maintainability of the writ petition and contended that once election results are declared, any dispute can only be adjudicated through an election petition under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The Supreme Court’s interim order came on a day when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay successfully won the confidence motion in the Legislative Assembly with 144 votes in favour, while 22 MLAs voted against the motion and five abstained.

The floor test witnessed dramatic scenes, including a walkout by the DMK, sharp exchanges between rival camps and visible divisions within the AIADMK. Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin led the DMK members out of the House after accusing the Vijay-led government of encouraging political defections by meeting rebel AIADMK legislators ahead of the trust vote.

The situation further escalated after AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced that all 47 MLAs belonging to his faction would oppose the confidence motion, while rebel AIADMK leader S.P. Velumani and supporting legislators eventually backed the TVK government during the voting.

Replying to the debate before the trust vote, Chief Minister Vijay asserted that his government would remain secular and committed to governance. “This government will function with the speed of a horse and not indulge in horse trading,” Vijay said.

–IANS

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