The Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M.K. Stalin that sought to nullify the election of Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) candidate V.S. Babu from the Kolathur Assembly constituency in the April 2026 elections.
Stalin, who had also asked the court to declare him the duly elected representative from the seat, saw his writ petition dismissed at the threshold as not maintainable.
Constitutional Bar On Writ Petitions
A division bench comprising Chief Justice S.A. Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan observed that the petition directly contested Babu’s election victory. The court ruled that the writ plea was barred under Article 329(b) of the Constitution read alongside Section 80 of the Representation of the People Act.
Under Article 329(b), no election to either House of Parliament or a State Legislature may be called into question except through an election petition presented to the prescribed authority and in the manner laid down by law. Section 80 of the Representation of the People Act similarly mandates that an election can be disputed solely via an election petition.
The judges noted that any relief available to the petitioner must be pursued through an election petition before the appropriate forum. The bench added that all claims, including those regarding the electronic voting machine checking and verification process, could be raised there, provided the petitioner proves that the alleged non-compliance with rules materially affected the outcome of the election.
Merits And Voting Machine Claims Left Open
Because the writ petition was deemed not maintainable, the bench refrained from ruling on the substance of the allegations. The court stated that it found no reason to review the merits of the claims raised against the checking and verification exercise, nor would it evaluate the validity of an administrative order dated August 5, 2026, which had certified the post-result verification as successful.
The judges explicitly expressed no opinion on those matters, clarifying that all arguments on merits—including alleged regulatory violations and the reported malfunction of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units—remain open to be raised before the proper legal forum.
Background Of The Kolathur Contest
The legal challenge stemmed from the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections held in April 2026, in which Babu defeated Stalin by a margin exceeding 8,500 votes, ending Stalin’s tenure as a three-time legislator representing Kolathur.
Following the declaration of results, Stalin submitted a petition to the Election Commission, prompting authorities in July to conduct a checking and verification process on the electronic voting machines deployed across the Kolathur constituency. The subsequent certification of that process on August 5 formed part of the grounds Stalin sought to contest before the High Court.
