SC to hear plea against Madras HC order barring TVK MLA from floor test proceedings today

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Wednesday a plea filed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA R. Seenivasa Sethupathi challenging the Madras High Court’s interim order restraining him from participating in any floor test proceedings in the Tamil Nadu Assembly amid a dispute over his one-vote victory from the Tiruppattur Assembly constituency.

According to the details available on the official website of the apex court, a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by Sethupathi was registered earlier on Tuesday and is listed before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and Vijay Bishnoi for hearing on Wednesday.

The plea was mentioned for urgent hearing before Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi earlier on Tuesday, following which the apex court agreed to list the matter for hearing on Wednesday.

Sethupathi has moved the top court challenging the interim order passed by a vacation Bench of the Madras High Court restraining him from "voting or otherwise taking part in any floor test, including confidence motion, no-confidence motion, trust vote or any voting proceeding in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly where the numerical strength of the House is tested, until further orders".

A bench of Justices L. Victoria Gowri and N. Senthilkumar had passed the interim direction while hearing a writ petition filed by former Tamil Nadu Minister and DMK leader K.R. Periakaruppan, who lost the Tiruppattur Assembly seat in Sivaganga district by a margin of just one vote.

According to the official results declared by the Election Commission of India (ECI), Sethupathi secured 83,365 votes, while Periakaruppan polled 83,364 votes.

Periakaruppan had alleged serious irregularities in the counting process and claimed that a postal ballot meant for Tiruppattur Assembly constituency No.185 in Sivaganga district was mistakenly sent to Tiruppattur Assembly constituency No.50 in Tiruppattur district near Vellore and was rejected there instead of being transmitted back to the correct constituency.