CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Thursday rejected an election petition challenging the victory of DMK youth wing leader Udhayanidhi Stalin who was elected to the Assembly in 2021 from Chepak-Thiruvallikeni segment. Justice V Bharathidasan passed the orders rejecting the election petition filed by R Premalatha, a voter of Chepak-Thiruvallikeni Assembly constituency, while allowing a rejection petition filed by the MLA.
The election petition was rejected on the grounds of want of substantial materials to support the allegations. Premalatha, in her petition, claimed that Udhayanidhi had furnished false information in his nomination papers and made contradictory statements regarding details of criminal cases pending against him. The information in the nomination papers and the accompanying affidavit misled the voters, she contended.
However, Udhayanidhi said the petition failed to substantiate the allegations with material evidence. He also noted he had disclosed the details of all the 22 criminal cases pending against him, and wondered how such information would affect the outcome of the polls as contended by the petitioner. He sought the court to reject the petition.