Supreme Court Stays Madras HC Order Declaring Election Victory Of AIADMK MP Ravindhranath Invalid

The bench accepted the appeal of OP Ravindhranath against Madras HC and issued a notice to the petitioner on Friday.

The petition was filed by P Milany who challenged the election of Theni constituency. ( Image Source :PTI )

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed Madras High Court order declaring "null and void" the election of former AIADMK member P Ravindhranath from Theni parliamentary constituency. The appeal filed by Ravindhranath against Madras HC order was heard by a bench of justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta. The bench accepted the appeal and issued a notice to the petitioner on Friday, PTI reported. Ravindhranath is the son of former Tamil Nadu chief minister and expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam.

The Madras HC order was passed by Justice SS Sundar. 

On Friday, meanwhile, the bench said, "Operation of the impugned judgment and order dated July 6, 2023, passed by the High Court of Judicature at Madras, shall remain stayed. Resultantly, the appellant (P Ravindhranath) shall be allowed to continue as a Member of Parliament of the 17th Lok Sabha for all intents and purposes till further orders." 

The petition was filed by P Milany who challenged the election of Theni constituency. The petitioner alleged that Ravindhranath failed to reveal all the details like particulars of his and his family's movable and immovable assets while filing his nomination.

In his election petition, he claimed that the withholding of information had a major impact on the election.

Ravindhranath had argued that withholding the material did not affect the election results.

Earlier, Palaniswami informed Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla that Ravindranath had left the AIADMK and should no longer be recognized as an MP representing the party. Ravindranath was ousted from the party along with his father O Panneerselvam and family members during AIADMK leadership issue. 

As Ravindhranath was the only successful AIADMK candidate in 2019, when the DMK and its allies won the polls, the AIADMK effectively has no Lok Sabha member. Ravindhranath was victorious over Congress veteran EVKS Elangovan.