The Madras High Court has sought responses from the Election Commission of India and major political parties on a public interest litigation alleging widespread corrupt practices during the 2026 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections, as reported in LiveLaw.
A division bench comprising Justice GR Swaminathan and Justice V. Lakshminarayanan issued notice on a plea filed by advocate L. Vasuki, who alleged that the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had engaged in illegal electoral practices during the Assembly polls.
During the hearing, the bench orally observed that election petitions are ordinarily maintainable against individual candidates and not necessarily against political parties themselves. However, the court noted that the allegations in the present case had been directed against the parties as entities rather than specific candidates.
“Election petition is maintainable against the candidate. But can a party be disqualified under Section 100 (of RP Act). Matter requires some investigation,” the bench orally remarked.
Taking note of the nature of the allegations, the court issued notice to the Election Commission as well as the political parties concerned.
In her petition, advocate Vasuki alleged that several illegal practices had taken place during the 2026 Assembly election campaign, including electoral bribery, cash-for-votes operations, undue influence on voters and the alleged use of minor children for electoral propaganda and indirect voter manipulation.
One of the key allegations raised in the plea related to Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, who also serves as the president of TVK. The petitioner alleged that during the campaign, Vijay had called upon children to emotionally influence or pressure their parents into voting for TVK.
According to the plea, such conduct raised “serious concern” relating to undue influence under Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act.
The petitioner further contended that serious allegations of money distribution and cash-for-votes practices had surfaced across multiple constituencies during the elections. It was argued that despite complaints and widespread circulation of such allegations, the Election Commission of India had allegedly failed to take effective action.
The plea stated that the alleged inaction of the Election Commission affected the conduct of free and fair elections and violated Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution, while also striking at the “basic structure doctrine.”
Seeking judicial intervention, the petitioner urged the High Court to direct an independent, time-bound inquiry into the allegations of corrupt electoral practices allegedly committed by the three major political parties during the Assembly elections.
The matter is expected to be taken up for further hearing after responses are filed by the Election Commission and the political parties concerned.
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