Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], July 7 : The Madras High Court, on Thursday, declared the poll victory of former chief minister O Panneerselvam's son OP Ravindranath Kumar, in Theni Lok Sabha constituency in 2019 as "null and void."
Ravindranath contested on behalf of the AIADMK in the last Lok Sabha election in 2019, winning the Theni constituency. Ravindranath won by a margin of 76,319 votes defeating EVKS Elangovan of Congress.
Milani, a voter of the Theni constituency, had filed an election case in the Madras High Court, claiming that various information including property details had been hidden in his nomination, and hence his victory in the Theni constituency should be declared invalid.
When the case came up for hearing before a single-judge bench of Justice SS Sundar, OP Ravindranath appeared in person and gave evidence. Ravindranath, who took to the witness stand and answered questions, denied the allegations against him. He also appeared before the election officials and submitted the documents
After the trial in the case was over and the verdict was adjourned, the judge again sought some clarifications. Ravindranath's side informed that the documents can be submitted only if the case is re-investigated.
Accepting the request of Theni MP Ravindranath, Justice SS Sundar approved the re-hearing of the case. Justice Sunder had ordered Rabindranath to appear in person on June 28 and give an explanation.
Accordingly, Ravindranath appeared in person on June 28 and filed additional documents. Theni MP Ravindranath gave his statement in the witness box to the questions asked by his counsel. Subsequently, the petitioner also responded to the cross-examination by Milani's counsel.
MP Ravindranath gave an explanation for more than three and a half hours denying various allegations including not properly accounting for the property details and money transfer. In this case, the judgment of this case was announced in the Madras High Court on Thursday afternoon.
The Madras High Court has ruled that OP Ravindranath who won the Theni constituency in the 2019 parliamentary elections is invalid. High Court said that the election victory was invalid and the seat was declared vacant at the Theni parliament constitution. On request of the O.P.Ravidranath, the case is suspended for 30 days for the appeal of OP Ravindranath.
Ravindranath was the lone candidate from the AIADMK-BJP alliance to register a victory in 2019 as the DMK-Congress alliance won 38 out of the 39 seats at stake in the state.
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