The Returning Officer of T. Kallupattti Town Panchayat in Madurai district on Monday told the Madras High Court that though an independent candidate had won the polls from ward number 10, he declared the DMK candidate as a winner because of “immense pressure” exerted on him.
Shocked to hear such submission, Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy directed the officer to file an affidavit by March 18 explaining the kind of pressure exerted on him to change the election result. They also directed the DMK candidate, K. Subbulakshmi, to file her counter affidavit.
The judges said the issue was serious and therefore, they would pass detailed orders after the filing of the affidavits. The issue had come to light after the independent candidate R. Palaniselvi filed a writ petition, through her counsel S.M.A. Jinnah, stating that she and the DMK candidate had secured 284 votes each.
