Madras HC reserves orders on MK Stalin’s plea challenging VS Babu’s election

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday reserved orders on former chief minister and DMK president MK Stalin’s petition challenging the election of TVK’s VS Babu from the Kolathur constituency.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan said it would pass orders after hearing both sides.

Stalin had approached the court seeking directions to the Election Commission of India to conduct 100 per cent counting of VVPAT slips and verify all 286 EVMs used in the constituency during the Assembly elections. Of the 14 EVMs taken up for verification, two stopped working immediately, which, he argued, required technical diagnosis.

Stalin also pointed out lapses in the chain of custody of another EVM, including blank address tags on the carrying cases of the Ballot Units and Control Units, and seals being affixed on the reverse side. Despite these lapses, the District Election Officer declared that the verification process had been completed successfully and in accordance with the prescribed procedure.

He therefore sought to set aside the District Election Officer’s order, order a recount and declare Babu’s victory void.

During the hearing, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for Stalin, argued that the ECI conducted the EVM verification only after 45 days had elapsed from the declaration of the election results, thereby preventing Stalin from filing an election petition. He submitted that the petitioner could not be left without a remedy merely because the prescribed time limit had expired.

Appearing for the ECI, senior counsel Dama Sheshadri Naidu opposed the plea, arguing that Stalin should have raised his doubts over the EVMs at the outset and could not approach the court after delaying the exercise of his rights.

He submitted that the Supreme Court had already ruled against 100 per cent recount and that allowing the plea would open a Pandora’s box, leading to similar petitions being filed by others.

When the court asked why Sibal had not approached the ECI earlier, he submitted that a letter was sent to the ECI within seven days of the results being declared, as directed by the Supreme Court. He said it was then for the ECI to verify the machines, but the verification was conducted only after 45 days, preventing Stalin from filing an election petition.

After hearing the matter, the court said it would consider the maintainability of the issue and pass orders.

Meanwhile, Stalin withdrew his writ petition challenging certain provisions of the ECI’s standard operating procedure (SOP) for verifying 5 per cent of EVMs after the High Court pointed out that he had challenged the older procedure that was in force in 2024 instead of the 2025 SOP. The bench granted Stalin liberty to file a fresh petition challenging the latest SOP.