CHENNAI : Observing that no cause of action had been disclosed in the election petition filed by ‘Thoppu’ ND Venkatachalam, the candidate fielded by the DMK in the recent Assembly polls, the Madras High Court dismissed his petition against the victory of his rival, S Jayakumar.

As the latter subsequently resigned the post and joined the ruling TVK, the court’s decision paves the way for the Election Commission to proceed with the bye-election there.

Meanwhile, Thoppu Venkatachalam, who contested the election from the constituency as a DMK candidate, filed an election petition before the Madras High Court challenging Jayakumar’s victory. Jayakumar subsequently filed a petition seeking dismissal of the election petition.

Hearing the petition, Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy observed that no cause of action had been disclosed in the election petition filed by Thoppu Venkatachalam. Accordingly, the judge allowed Jayakumar’s petition and dismissed the election petition filed by Venkatachalam.

In the election, AIADMK candidate Jayakumar was declared the winner by a margin of 9,693 votes. Subsequently, after voting in favour of the TVK government in the trust vote, Jayakumar resigned as MLA and joined TVK. Meanwhile, Venkatachalam, who contested as the DMK candidate, filed an election petition before the High Court challenging Jayakumar's victory, while the latter filed a petition seeking dismissal of the election petition.

Hearing the petition, Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy observed that no cause of action had been disclosed in Venkatachalam’s election petition. Accordingly, the judge allowed Jayakumar's petition and dismissed Venkatachalam’s plea.

The dismissal of the petition is significant, as Perundurai is among the five constituencies where the division bench of the Madras High Court, led by Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari, had restrained the Election Commission from conducting or announcing bye-elections until the related election petitions are disposed of.

Adding another political twist to the drama, Venkatachalam recently quit the DMK.