The Madras High Court on Tuesday raised pointed questions while hearing election petitions challenging Chief Minister Vijay’s victories from Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East constituencies.
The petitions were filed by DMK candidates and voters, and the cases are currently under trial before the High Court. Vijay has moved the court seeking dismissal of the election petitions.
During the hearing, Justice Lakshminarayanan observed that candidates often rely on chartered accountants while filing asset declarations. The judge noted that even he had depended on his chartered accountant when submitting his own asset details after becoming a judge.
The court asked whether an omission or error of around Rs 20–30 lakh in the asset statement, if attributable to an auditor’s mistake, could by itself be grounds to declare the election invalid. The judge also pointed out that when a person from the film industry had openly declared assets exceeding Rs 600 crore, it was unclear how a relatively small omission would affect the election outcome.
The questions were posed to the petitioner’s counsel as the court continued to examine whether the petitions disclose sufficient grounds to proceed.
