A dramatic twist occurred a day before the floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly as the Madras High Court on Tuesday barred Tamilaga Vettei Kazhagam (TVK) MLA Srinivasa Sethupathi from taking part in any House proceedings, including the upcoming confidence vote. As per details, the order was delivered by a vacation bench comprising Justice L Victoria Gowri and Justice N Senthil Kumar.
The bench was acting on a plea filed by former DMK minister KR Periyakaruppan, who had lost the recent election from Tirupattur in Sivaganga district by a single vote to Srinivasa Sethupathi. Periyakaruppan argued that one postal ballot meant for the Tirupattur Constituency No. 185 in Sivaganga was allegedly transferred to Tirupattur Constituency No. 50 in Vellore district. Instead of routing the ballot to the correct returning officer, authorities allegedly rejected it outright. He urged the court to issue an interim order preventing Sethupathi from assuming office as MLA until the ballot mix-up was examined.
What did the ECI say?
During the hearing, the Election Commission submitted that, as per the rules, no action was required if a complaint regarding postal ballot discrepancies was received after the commencement of vote counting. The Commission also stated that not a single postal vote had been transferred to another constituency. The court, however, observed that there was sufficient evidence supporting the complaint submitted by Periyakaruppan. The High Court subsequently restrained Srinivasa Sethupathi from participating in the Assembly confidence vote as an MLA. The court also directed that all postal ballots be kept safely secured and ordered preservation of the related video footage.
TVK's JCD Prabhakar elected as Assembly Speaker
It is worth mentioning here that TVK MLA JCD Prabhakar on Tuesday was unanimously elected as the Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and TVK leaders displayed respect and support with folded hands as Prabakara sat in his chair. Earlier on Monday, Prabhakar filed his nomination for the post of Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in the presence of Chief Minister Vijay. The nomination filing marks a key procedural development in the formation of the new Tamil Nadu Assembly leadership structure under the TVK-led government.
Prabhakar, who was elected from the Thousand Lights constituency in the 2026 Assembly elections, defeated Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidate Ezhlian Naganathan. Meanwhile, in the oath-taking ceremony of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam-led Tamil Nadu government, all MLAs of the State Legislative Assembly took oath as members of the House on Monday.
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