Chennai, Sept 3 The Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed as not maintainable, a petition filed by DMK President M K Stalin to declare the election of TVK candidate V S Babu from Kolathur Assembly constituency in the April 2026 polls as void and declare him as duly elected from that segment.
The First Bench comprising Chief Justice S A Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan held that the writ petition questions the election of Babu from Kolathur.
However, the plea was barred by Article 329 (b) of the Constitution read with section 80 of the Representation of People Act.
The remedy of the petitioner, if any, lies in an election petition before the appropriate forum, where all grounds, including the "checking and verification process," may be agitated, subject to the petitioner establishing that alleged non-compliance of norms has materially affected the result of the election.
"In view of the above finding on maintainability, this court does not consider it necessary to examine the merits of the allegations levelled against the checking and verification process, or the correctness of the impugned order dated August 5, 2026 (certifying the post-result process of checking and verification as successful), and, therefore, expresses no opinion thereon," the bench said.
All contentions on merits, including those relating to the alleged breach of rules, the malfunction of the VVPAT units were left open to be contested before the appropriate forum, the bench said.
In July, the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in Kolathur Assembly segment were verified under the "Checking and Verification" process after Stalin's petition to the Election Commission.
Article 329 (b) says, "no election to either House of Parliament or to the House or either House of the Legislature of a State shall be called in question except by an election petition presented to such authority and in such manner as may be provided for by or under any law made by the appropriate legislature." Section 80 of the RP Act states that no election can be called into question except through an election petition.
In the Assembly elections held in April this year, TVK leader Babu handed a shock defeat to 3-time Kolathur MLA Stalin by a margin of over 8,500 votes.
