The Madras High Court has issued a notice to Dayanidhi Maran, a Member of Parliament representing the Central Chennai constituency, in response to a petition seeking to declare his election victory null and void. The notice, returnable by September 27, was issued by Justice N Anand Venkatesh during a hearing of the petition filed by ML Ravi, the president of Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi and an advocate.
The petitioner, ML Ravi, has challenged Dayanidhi Maran’s election victory by citing violations of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951. According to the petition, Maran, who ran as a candidate for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, allegedly engaged in campaign activities that were in violation of Section 126 of the RP Act. This section prohibits election campaigning within 48 hours of the polling day.
The petitioner claimed that Maran advertised in all popular newspapers on the polling day, which influenced voters in favor of the DMK. Furthermore, it was alleged that Maran’s campaign involved pasting stickers with his photograph, along with images of his party leader and the party symbol, on voters’ homes. The petitioner also accused Maran of conducting mass rallies around the constituency, the expenses for which were reportedly not reflected in the accounts submitted to the Election Commission (EC), violating Section 77(1) of the RP Act.
Dayanidhi Maran secured over 4 lakh votes in the Parliamentary election, winning the Central Chennai seat for the DMK.
