The Madras High Court on Tuesday (May 12, 2026) restrained the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA R. Seenivasa Sethupathy from participating in the trust vote to be held on the floor of the Legislative Assembly on or before May 13, 2026, as per the instructions of Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar.

A summer vacation Bench of Justices L. Victoria Gowri and N. Senthilkumar passed the interim order after holding a hearing on Sunday (May 10, 2026) and Monday (May 11, 2026) on an urgent writ petition filed by former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Minister K.R. Periakaruppan, who had lost by a single vote to the TVK MLA.

The writ petitioner claimed to have lost the polls because of two constituencies with the same name, ‘Tirupattur,’ in Tamil Nadu. He brought to the notice of the court that constituency number 50 in Tirupattur district was named Tirupattur, as was constituency number 185 in Sivaganga district, though spelt differently as ‘Tiruppattur’.

Due to identical names, one of the postal votes cast in favour of the petitioner in Sivaganga district had been wrongly despatched to Tirupattur district, and that vote was not re-directed to Sivaganga district on the day of counting on May 4, 2026, which had led to the victory of the TVK candidate by one vote, the petitioner claimed.

Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi and N.R. Elango, representing the writ petitioner, had argued that if the postal vote had been redirected to Sivaganga district, both candidates would have secured equal number of votes and the winner would have been decided by draw of lots, as per the procedures precribed under the election laws.

Prima facie satisfied with the submissions made for the grant of interim orders, the Division Bench granted an interim injunction restraining the TVK MLA from voting or otherwise taking part in any floor test, including the confidence motion/no-confidence motion/trust vote, or any voting proceedings in the Legislative Assembly.

Judges’ clarification

“It is made clear that this interim order shall not be construed as setting aside the declaration of the election of the sixth respondent (Mr. Sethupathy) nor shall it be treated as conferring any right upon the petitioner to be declared elected,” the Bench led by Justice Gowri clarified.

The judges also directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to forthwith secure and preserve all records relating to counting of votes in the Tirupattur constituency in Sivaganga district. They ordered that if there was any postal vote wrongly despatched to Tirupattur district, that should also be secured and sealed.

The ECI was further directed to preserve the video footage of the counting of postal ballots as well as the re-verification process undertaken after finding that the TVK candidate had won just by one vote against the writ petitioner. The electronic evidence should not be destroyed at any cost, the court said.

“This order shall not be construed as a direction for recounting, reaccounting, reopening of ballot papers, validation of rejected postal ballot papers or interference with the declaration of the result already made,” the judges wrote and said, the rights and remedies of all parties are left open to be decided during the final hearing of the main writ petition.

The judges directed the High Court Registry to list the main writ petition for further hearing on June 26, 2026.