HC declines to stay order on recounting in Radhapuram Assembly constituency

The Madras High Court declined on Thursday to stay its order directing recounting of postal ballots and the votes polled in EVMs in three particular rounds in the Radhapuram constituency in the 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, where the nominee of the ruling AIADMK had won by a slender margin of 49 votes. Justice G Jayachandran declined to entertain the plea moved by the AIADMK MLA, I S Inbadurai, seeking a stay on his order passed on Tuesday, and directed the registry of the court to make arrangements for the recounting of votes on Friday.

The judge had passed the interim order for recounting of votes on Tuesday on a petition filed by M Appavu of the DMK, challenging Inbadurai's election. After the judge had passed the order, the senior counsel appearing for Inbadurai moved a petition seeking a stay on it, which was heard on Thursday.

In the 2016 election, Inbadurai had polled 69,590 votes, while Appavu had secured 69,541 votes. According to the petitioner, who has sought a court declaration holding Inbadurai's election as void, a total of 203 postal ballots were declared invalid for being attested by the headmaster of a middle school.

He has sought a recounting of all postal ballots after re-verification and a recounting of the regular votes recorded in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) covered under the 19th, 20th and 21st rounds of counting. The judge had held the rejection of the 203 postal ballots as "improper", saying no law prohibited en masse attestation if it was otherwise valid.

He had then directed the Election Commission (EC) to produce the control units of the EVMs pertaining to the 19th, 20th and 21st rounds of counting in the constituency and all the postal ballots before the high court's registrar general at 11.30 am on Friday for recounting.

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