High Court dismisses DMK candidate's election plea

Dismissing the plea, Justice PN Prakash said the allegations "set out by the petitioner show that they are only vague and general allegations without any material facts."

The matter relates to a petition filed by DMK candidate NR Dhanapalan, who lost to Vetrivel by a margin of 519 votes from Perambur Assembly constituency.

Dhanapalan has alleged that Vetrivel indulged in corrupt practices and also manipulated the votes.

When the plea came up recently, Justice Prakash said the petitioner has failed to prove that Vetrivel had indulged in corrupt practices.

"Law mandates the disclosure of material facts in the election petition, only then the contesting respondent will be able to effectively answer the charges."

"In this case, the allegations in the election petition are vague and the evidence of the witnesses with regard to corrupt practice is far from satisfactory," the judge said.

Dhanapalan sought a direction to declare Vetrivel's election void and also to recount all votes, including postal, and declare him the duly elected candidate.

Vetrivel had secured 79,974 votes to Dhanapalan's 79,455 votes and the returning officer declared the former winner by a margin of 519 votes.

Declining to accept the prayer for a recount, the judge said "the order of recounting can be passed only if the petitioner sets out his case with precision supported by averments of material facts... The election petition is devoid of merits and is accordingly dismissed."

Vetrivel is among the 18 Dinakaran-loyalist MLAs who have been disqualified by state Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal in September last year, for revolting against Chief Minister K Palaniswami.