Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday initiated proceedings in a batch of election petitions challenging the poll victories of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay and State Sports Minister Aadhav Arjuna in the recently concluded state Assembly elections, directing that notices be issued after the petitioners rectify procedural defects within a week.
Justice V. Lakshminarayana directed the Registry to issue notices to Chief Minister Vijay, Minister Aadhav Arjuna and the Election Commission of India (ECI) once the pending ministerial requirements are complied with.
The respondents have been asked to file their responses within three weeks of receiving the notices.
The court also permitted the petitioners to serve private notices to expedite the process.
Saying that election petitions are required to be disposed of within six months under the law, the judge emphasised the need for an expeditious hearing.
The court is dealing with six election petitions, four of which challenge Chief Minister Vijay’s election, while two question the election of Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Aadhav Arjuna.
Three of the petitions relate to Chief Minister Vijay’s poll victory from the Perambur Assembly constituency in the May 2026 Assembly elections.
The petitions have been filed by defeated DMK candidate R.D. Shekar and voters S. Dinesh and T.N. Lakshmi Narasimhan.
In the Perambur poll contest, Chief Minister Vijay secured 1,20,365 votes against Shekar’s 66,650 votes, registering a victory margin of 53,715 votes.
Another petition has been filed by defeated DMK candidate Inigo Irudayaraj challenging CM Vijay’s election from the Tiruchirappalli (East) Assembly constituency.
The court noted that certain defects had been identified in the petition and directed that they be rectified before notices are issued.
The Tiruchirappalli (East) petition alleges that CM Vijay suppressed material information regarding pending legal cases, failed to fully disclose his election expenditure and engaged children in election campaigning, in violation of election laws.
The petitioner has sought to have Chief Minister Vijay’s election declared void, requested that he be declared the duly elected candidate in the Perambur Assembly constituency and urged the court to restrain the Election Commission from conducting any by-election until the election petition is finally decided.
Separately, Sports Minister Aadhav Arjuna’s election from the Villivakkam Assembly constituency has been challenged through two petitions filed by defeated DMK candidate Karthik Mohan and voter R. Sivaraj.
The High Court is likely to take up the matters again after the procedural defects are cured and notices are served on the respondents.
(IANS)
