The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted an interim stay of the proceedings against DMK president M. Karunanidhi pending before the Judicial Magistrate, Tiruvarur. The magistrate had ordered the appearance of Mr. Karunanidhi on March 7 based on a complaint by the Returning Officer of the Tiruvarur constituency during the Assembly elections in 2011.
Justice C.T. Selvam admitted a petition by Mr. Karunanidhi and granted the stay. The court dispensed with the personal appearance till February 25 and called for the records. The matter has been posted for February 25.
The Returning Officer had filed the complaint against the DMK leader for allegedly not furnishing particulars of certain property in his nomination papers and the affidavit. Hence, he had committed an offence under Section 125-A of the Representation of the People Act read with Section 177 (Furnishing false information) IPC.
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The petitioner submitted that the filing of the complaint was a vindictive action taken belatedly by the officers of the local government.