Chennai, Oct 2:
The Madras High Court has refused to dismiss an election petition challenging the victory of former AIADMK MLA Isakki Subbiah in the Ambasamudram Assembly constituency.
Isakki Subbiah had won the election from Ambasamudram by a margin of 10,245 votes. Voter Gandhimathinathan subsequently filed an election petition seeking to declare his victory invalid.
Isakki Subbiah later resigned as MLA and joined the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). After the High Court issued notice on the election petition, he filed a petition seeking its dismissal, contending that it was not maintainable.
The High Court rejected his plea and held that the election petition filed by Gandhimathinathan could not be dismissed at this stage.
However, the court removed the petitioner’s prayer seeking a declaration that Congress candidate V P Durai, who had finished second, should be declared the elected candidate.
The court noted that, according to the Supreme Court’s position, a second-place candidate could be declared elected only in circumstances where there were just two candidates in the contest. Since more than two candidates had contested the Ambasamudram election, the prayer to declare the runner-up as the winner could not be entertained.
The court’s order therefore allows the main election petition challenging Isakki Subbiah’s victory to proceed, while excluding the request to declare the second-place candidate as the winner.