HC dismisses petition challenging Pondy MLA’s win

CHENNAI: A democratically elected person cannot be thrown out merely at the whims and fancies of the defeated candidate without any materials, the Madras High Court said and dismissed an election petition filed by Puducherry DMK man who challenged the electoral success of the AINRC candidate in 2021 Puducherry UT Assembly elections.

Justice N Sathish Kumar made this observation on rejecting the petition filed by S Gopal, DMK candidate for Orleanpet Assembly constituency in 2021. The petitioner sought direction to declare the election of G Nehru aka Kuppusamy as null and void.

The petitioner claimed that Nehru and his supporters spread a leaflet, which is defamatory against him and affected his winning prospects in the election.

However, the judge held that the petitioner has come out with vague pleadings in his election petition and there is no substantial evidence to substantiate his allegations.

“With the available evidence on record, it is not possible to connect the first respondent Nehru with the corrupt practice alleged in the election petition. The election petitioner has miserably failed to prove the allegations made in the petition. The election petitioner has failed to prove that any corrupt practices have been committed by the first respondent or his election agent or that the corrupt practice has been committed at the instance of the first respondent,” the judge held. Justice Sathish Kumar further added that it is settled law that any election petition is not an action at law or a suit in equity, but it is purely statutory proceedings and the Courts possess no common law power.