TVK MLA moves Supreme Court against Madras HC voting bar order

New Delhi: TVK MLA R Seenivasa Sethupathi has moved the Supreme Court challenging an order passed by the Madras High Court on Tuesday restraining him from voting in any floor test or trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

The plea was mentioned for urgent hearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The bench agreed to list the matter for hearing on Wednesday. Sethupathi had won from Tiruppattur in Sivagangai district by a margin of one vote against Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and former minister KR Periakaruppan.

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Periakaruppan petitioned the Madras High Court, alleging discrepancies in the counting process. He also claimed that a postal ballot was not counted after it was sent to the wrong constituency.

The Madras High Court Tuesday passed an interim order restraining Sethupathi from participating in legislative assembly proceedings till further orders.

The order meant that the TVK-led alliance would have a slim majority of one MLA in the 234-strong Tamil Nadu legislative assembly. The TVK alliance currently has 120 MLAs in the house. With the High Court's order, only 119 can participate in the house proceedings.

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In his petition before the Madras High Court, Periakaruppan alleged that one postal ballot meant for No185 Tiruppattur assembly constituency was wrongly sent to No 50 Tiruppattur assembly constituency in Tirupattur district.

Periakaruppan alleged that the postal ballot was handled and rejected at No 50 Tiruppattur even though it allegedly belonged to his constituency. He contended that the ballot ought to have been sent to the correct Returning Officer instead of being rejected.