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Stay on re-count of votes confirmed

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI Jan. 6. The Supreme Court today confirmed the interim stay on re-count of votes polled in the Karur parliamentary election in Tamil Nadu, held in October 1999, in which the AIADMK candidate, M. Chinnasamy, was declared elected by a margin of 2,847 votes.

A three-Judge Bench, comprising the Chief Justice, V. N. Khare, Justice S. B. Sinha and Justice A. R. Lakshmanan, confirmed the stay while admitting a special leave petition against the High Court judgment dated November 7, 2002, ordering a re-count of the votes.

The Bench thereby declined the request of the defeated DMK candidate, K.C. Palanisamy, on whose petition the Madras High Court had ordered the recount, for vacating the stay.

It, however, gave liberty for ``mentioning'' for early disposal of the SLP, when senior counsel, Harish Salve, brought to the notice of the court that already three years had passed since the elections.

The apex court had, on November 14 last, stayed the counting of votes after the SLP was ``mentioned'' by senior counsel for the AIADMK MP, C.S. Vaidyanathan and C. Paramasivam, for early hearing.

In his SLP, Mr. Chinnasamy had said that the High Court ordered the re-counting of the entire votes (within one week) when the alleged complaint preferred by the Chief Election Agent of Mr. Palanisamy before the Returning Officer was that the result might be declared after the re-counting of the rejected votes.

He said the Returning Officer, after enquiry, had rejected the complaint but the High Court "wrongly proceeded" and ordered the re-counting of all the votes within the short period by a "unique procedure unknown to law."

The High Court was in error when the allegations in the election petitions were vague and did not contain any material particulars, he added.

Seeking a direction for dismissing the SLP and vacating the stay, Mr. Palanisamy said the High Court ordered the re-counting of votes on the basis of irregularities in the counting, particularly the failure on the part of the Returning Officer to independently exercise his function in deciding upon doubtful votes.

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