Chennai: Madras high court on Tuesday dismissed a plea challenging the election of revenue minister K A Sengottaiyan from Gobichettipalayam constituency in the 2026 assembly election.Justice G K Ilanthiraiyan passed the order while rejecting the election petition moved by AIADMK candidate for the constituency V B Prabhu on the ground that no sufficient materials were before the court requiring conduct of the trial.According to Prabhu, the nomination papers of Sengottaiyan were not filed properly, and even the notary who signed the papers did not have a valid license. Sengottaiyan won the election with a margin of 16,620 votes by securing 82,612 votes. DMK’s N Nallasivam secured 65,992 votes while Prabhu secured 56,232 votes.“The mere allegation that the affidavit in Form No 26 was attested by a notary whose certificate of practice was allegedly not subsisting on the date of attestation, without pleading the necessary facts establishing the statutory violation and its material effect upon the result of the election, cannot constitute a complete cause of action under the Representation of People Act,” the court said.The absence of such vital and basic facts is not a mere deficiency in particulars, but goes to the root of the cause of action pleaded in the election petition, the court added.
