CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday granted permission to Telengana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to withdraw her petition challenging the election of DMK candidate Kanimozhi from the Thoothukudi constituency during Lok Sabha elections held in May 2019. This comes a month after Tamilisai took charge as the governor of Telangana.
While functioning as the president of the state BJP wing Tamilisai had filed the petition challenging the election of Kanimozhi on various grounds, including corruption. After becoming the Governor of Telangana, she opted to withdraw her petition.
When the matter came up on the last occasion, Justice SM Subramaniyam had directed her to follow the procedure for the withdrawal of the petition. Meanwhile, the judge ordered notice on another similar petition from Santhana Kumar, a voter in the constituency, challenging the election of Kanimozhi on the same grounds.
In her petition seeking to dismiss the election petition, Kanimozhi argued that the Supreme Court had time and again held that a candidate duly elected by the democratic process to work for the people of the constituency cannot be permitted to face the rigours of a lengthy protracted trial on the basis of vague and un-substantiated election petition.
"The portion of the petition alleging corrupt practices were vague, bereft of material facts and do not disclose any cause of action. It did not meet the statutory requirements under the Representation of Peoples Act," Kanimozhi said.
Since the allegations of corrupt practice have been leveled in the election petition, as per Rule 94-A of the Conduct of Election Rules, an affidavit has to be filed by the petitioner sworn before a Magistrate of First Class or Notary or Commissioner of Oaths in Form 25 prescribed under the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. As it was not done in the present case, the petition is liable to be rejected.