india

Updated: Oct 01, 2019 21:29 IST

Three years after the last Tamil Nadu assembly elections, the Madras high court on Tuesday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to recount all postal ballots and three rounds of regular votes of EVMs polled in Radhapuram assembly constituency in Tirunelveli district.

The order was passed on a petition filed DMK candidate M Appavu alleging irregularities in the counting in the May 16, 2016 elections.

DMK’s Appavu was defeated by AIADMK’s I S Inbadurai in Radhapuram by a margin of 49 votes. The ECI declared that Inbadurai got 69590 votes and Appavu received 69541 votes.

Appavu alleged that 203 postal ballots were not counted and regular EVM votes in three rounds were counted when the DMK agents were sent out by paramilitary forces on request of election officers. He had also filed a petition in the high court seeking a direction to recount all the postal ballots and the three rounds of EVM counting.

“The EC officers who counted the postal votes had declared that about 203 postal votes as invalid which were cast in my favour. As I asked to recount the postal ballots, they sent me and DMK agents out from the counting hall. They counted rounds 19, 20 and 21 of EVMs without our presence. Even as we requested the returning officer and the election observer to verify the postal ballots after clarifying the ground on which they were rejected, the officers did not hear us,” Appavu said in his petition in which he pleaded that Inbadurai’s victory be declared void.

When hearing the final arguments on Tuesday, justice G Jayachandran passed an interim order directing the ECI to recount the votes in the high court.

“The counting of votes recorded in EVMs of 19, 20, 21 rounds was not in compliance with the provisions of the Act. The ECI should submit the control units of EVM’s about the rounds of 19, 20 and 21 and all the postal ballots of Radhapuram constituency which went for polls on May 16, 2016. The EVMs and postal ballots should be produced before 11.30 am on October 4, 2019. The Registrar General of Madras high court is directed to depute any of his Registrars to monitor the counting of all postal ballots and EVM’s of 19, 20 and 21 rounds on October 21, 2019. They should submit the report to this Court immediately after completion of the counting. Four persons having expertise in election process could be deputed by the ECI to assist the recounting,” the high court said in its direction.

The judge has also said that candidate or people authorized by them shall be permitted in the counting hall.

Though the ECI requested the court to extend the time for recounting, the judge dismissed the appeal.

Meanwhile, Inbadurai filed a petition in the high court asking to stop the interim order. The court has asked the respondent Appavu to file his counter on October 3.