Madras HC dismisses petition challenging BJP candidate's nomination

Chennai: The Madras High Court rejected a petition challenging BJP leader Nainar Nagendran's nomination as a candidate for the Tirunelveli Lok Sabha constituency in Tamil Nadu.

The first bench of the Madras High Court represented by Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad on Tuesday heard the petition against the acceptance of the poll nomination of Nagendran as a candidate for the Lok Sabha seat.

The division bench, however, refused to accept the petition stating that the poll date was on April 19 and that it was too late for the petition to be entertained.

The petitioner, V. Maharajan informed the court that the Tirunelveli returning officer accepted the election nomination of the BJP leader Nainar Nagendran without considering his representation against it.

Maharajan said he had informed the returning officer that the BJP candidate had suppressed facts in the nomination papers. He said the candidate had even concealed the criminal case against him in the nomination papers.

The petitioner also demanded the Election Commission take action against the returning officer for negligently accepting the candidate's nomination without considering his representation. However, the court rejected his petition.