Stalin moves Madras High Court to declare him elected from Kolathur constituency

…constituency election except by way of an election petition. The judges concurred with the ECI that entertaining such a writ petition might open a pandora’s box. “There is substance in the apprehension. If every such anomaly, as pleaded in this writ petition, is made a basis for filing a writ petition seeking to unseat the returned candidate and to declare the runner-up elected, the statutory scheme of election petitions, hedged as it is with limitation, verified pleadings, security for costs and recrimination, would be rendered wholly illusory ,” the Bench wrote. Authoring the verdict, the Chief Justice said that Mr. Stalin had insisted upon the 100% counting of VVPAT slips on the basis of alleged anomalies discovered by his representative, senior counsel…

…14 (5%) of the 286 EVM sets used in the Kolathur constituency. Though the application was made within three days of the declaration of the election results on May 4, the verification process began only on July 29. “ This inordinate delay (of nearly three months) is itself contrary to the spirit of the directions issued by the honourable Supreme Court, and has caused serious and irreversible prejudice to my legal rights ,” the petitioner said. Informing the court that he had appointed senior counsel N.R. Elango as his representative for the verification process, Mr. Stalin said one of the VVPAT units had stopped working during the mock…