CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered notice to Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) founder C Joseph Vijay on the election petitions challenging his victory in the April 23 Assembly polls in Perambur and Tiruchy East constituencies.
DMK candidate R D Sekar and two others, Dinesh and Lakshminarasimhan, filed the petitions against the CM’s victory in Perambur while Inigo Irudayaraj challenged the victory in Tiruchy East.
Admitting the election petitions, Justice V Lakshminarayanan directed the CM and the Election Commission of India (ECI) to file reply within three weeks.
Finding certain defects in the petitions, the judge asked the petitioners to comply with the requirements and directed the court’s registry to issue notice returnable by three weeks. He also noted the proceedings of an election petition have to be completed within six months.
The judge also ordered notice to Minister for Sports Development Aadhav Arjuna on the petitions filed by DMK candidate Karthick Mohan and Sivaraj, a voter, challenging his victory in Villivakkam. The judge directed him and the ECI to file reply in three weeks.
Petition against E V Velu’s win in Tiruvannamalai
Meanwhile, Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy ordered notice to E V Velu on the petition filed by TVK candidate Arul Arumugam against his victory in Tiruvannamalai, where the former minister and DMK leader won by a margin of 2,455 votes. The judge directed Velu and the ECI to file reply by July 21. Similar notices were also ordered against S Jayakumar, who had won in Perundurai but defected to the TVK, and Congress MLA Tharagai Cuthbert, among others