Chennai, Oct 30:
The Madras High Court has dismissed an election petition filed by a voter challenging the victory of DMK MLA O. Panneerselvam from the Bodinayakanur Assembly constituency in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
Panneerselvam, who contested on the DMK ticket, was declared elected after securing 85,206 votes, defeating his nearest rival by a margin of 6,805 votes. Two voters, T. Kannan of Bodinayakanur and Milani of Chennai, had filed separate election petitions seeking to declare his election invalid.
Panneerselvam had also filed petitions seeking dismissal of the election cases against him. Hearing his plea to reject the petition filed by Kannan, Justice P.B. Balaji accepted the MLA’s contention that the petition did not contain the necessary material or evidence to warrant a full-fledged trial and ordered its dismissal.
However, the separate election petition filed by Milani challenging Panneerselvam’s victory is still pending before the High Court.