The Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed a plea moved by an Independent candidate challenging the election of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa from R.K. Nagar Assembly constituency in the June 2015 by-election.
Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana also upheld the decision of the Returning Officer (RO) in rejecting the nomination papers of Independent candidate T. Suresh.
Challenging the decision of the Returning Officer, the petitioner wanted the court to declare the election of Ms. Jayalalithaa as illegal, null and void.
“Once an electoral roll was published and the election was already declared on the basis of the same, it is not open to challenge the same on the ground that the electoral rolls are defective and that is not the ground available for challenging an election under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act. The finality of the electoral rolls cannot be assailed in proceedings, challenging the validity of the election, which is held on the basis of the rolls. Article 329 would be a bar to the same,” the judge said.
The RO was right in arriving at the decision to reject the nomination as the defect pointed out was substantial and could not be cured. “As the issue in question has become purely academic, in view of the subsequent general Assembly elections, the present petition has become infructuous,” Ms. Pushpa Sathyanarayana said.
