The Madras High Court on Tuesday refused to declare as null and void the election of four MPs and eight MLAs, who had contested on reserved symbols belonging to other political parties in the 2019 general election and the 2021 Assembly election, respectively.
Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy disposed of two public interest litigation petitions filed by advocate M.L. Ravi of the Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi in 2019 and 2021, after observing that disputed questions of fact, with respect to the party to which the legislators belonged, could not be decided in writ jurisdiction.
Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel, T. Sivagnanasambandan, claimed that the MPs, T.R. Paarivendhar (representing Perambalur constituency), D. Ravikumar (Villupuram), A. Ganeshamurthi (Erode) and A.K.P. Chinnaraj (Namakkal), belonged to the Indiya Jananayaga Katchi, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Kongu Makkal Desiya Katchi, respectively. However, all four had contested on the ‘rising sun’ symbol of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, he said.
