TVK MLA elected by one-vote margin barred from Assembly proceedings
12 May 2026

The Madras High Court has restrained Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) candidate R Seenivasa Sethu pathi from participating in the legislative proceedings of the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

The decision comes after Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader KR Periakaruppan challenged Sethupathi's election from the Tiruppattur Assembly Constituency.

Periakaruppan lost to Sethupathi by a single vote and alleged that a postal ballot was wrongly sent to another constituency and not counted.

Court finds prima facie case in Periakaruppan's favor
Majority at stake

A bench of Justices Victoria Gowri and N Senthilkumar found a prima facie case in Periakaruppan's favor.

The court has now barred Sethupathi from voting or participating in any floor tests, including confidence motions and no-confidence motions until further orders.

However, the court clarified that the judgment would not be interpreted as invalidating Sethupathi's election.

This order puts the TVK-led alliance's position on shaky ground, as it has 119 MLAs in the 234-member legislative assembly, with 118 being the majority.

Court orders preservation of all records related to counting
Record preservation

In Tuesday's order, the court also directed the preservation of all records related to the counting of votes in No. 185 Tiruppattur Assembly Constituency.

This includes consolidated counting abstracts, statutory forms, round-wise counting sheets, EVM vote account records, postal ballot records and rejected postal ballot covers.

The court has restrained respondents from destroying or altering these materials without further orders from the court or competent election forum.

Court asks ECI for explanation
Legal plea

In his plea, Periakaruppan claimed the disputed postal ballot was intended for his Tiruppattur constituency but was mistakenly sent to another Tiruppattur constituency, where it was rejected.

He also alleged serious irregularities in the counting process and discrepancies between EVM vote figures and those published on the ECI website.

Periakaruppan sought an injunction restraining Sethupathi from participating in legislative processes until the matter is resolved.

On Monday, the court asked the Election Commission to explain its inaction on Periakaruppan's representation.