The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted an interim stay on a Madras High Court order that had barred TVK MLA Srinivasa Sethupathi from participating in a trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Sethupathi won the Tiruppathur Assembly constituency in Sivaganga district by a margin of one vote, defeating former DMK minister Periyakaruppan. Periyakaruppan challenged the result before the Madras High Court, alleging that postal ballots meant for the constituency were mistakenly sent to the Tiruppathur district constituency.
After hearing the matter, the High Court had directed submission of documents and restrained Sethupathi from taking part in the trust vote. Sethupathi then approached the Supreme Court in appeal.
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi heard both sides and said the High Court should not have acted in that manner, describing the court’s approach as “harsh.” The Supreme Court stayed the High Court’s order and also restrained the High Court from proceeding further with the case.
The bench directed that notices be issued to the Election Commission and Periyakaruppan’s side to file their responses within two weeks, and posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.
