HC dismisses election petition against Jaya

Chennai, Aug 22 (PTI) The Madras High Court today rejecteda petition filed by a city-based social activist challengingthe election of AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister Jayalalithaafrom R K Nagar Assembly seat here in a by-poll last year. Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana dismissed the petition by"Traffic" Ramaswamy, a losing independent candidate in theJune 27, 2015 by-election as he did not appear before thecourt. He had alleged vitiation of the result through corruptpractices and abuse of official position. Two separate petitions, including the one by Ramaswamy,were filed challenging the election of Jayalalithaa in thebye-election to the previous assembly held in the aftermath ofher acquittal by the Karnataka High Court in adisproportionate wealth case. The other petition was also filed by an independentcandidate, Suresh Kumar, an advocate, whose nomination wasrejected by the Retuning Officer of the constituency. Dismissing the petition by Ramaswamy as default fornon-appearance, the judge adjourned hearing on Kumar’spetition by four weeks. Kumar has submitted that even though he had fulfilled thenorms and the procedures as per the rules of Representation ofPeople Act, the Returning Officer had rejected his nominationon the ground that one of the ten proposers’ addresses waswrongly mentioned. PTI CORR VSSCMAV