Madras High Court begins hearing Tamil Nadu CM Vijay’s plea to reject election petitions

On October 5, 2026, the Madras High Court commenced hearings on four election petitions filed against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay. The petitions challenge his victory in the Perambur Assembly constituency, where he won by a margin of 53,715 votes. Justice V. Lakshminarayanan is handling three of these petitions, including those filed by voter S. Dinesh and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's losing candidate R.D.

Shekar. An additional petition was filed by DMK candidate S. Inigo Irudayaraj, challenging Vijay's victory in Tiruchi East Assembly constituency, a seat he had vacated after winning from two constituencies.

Senior counsel Srinath Sridevan, representing Vijay, made his opening arguments in the Dinesh petition, asserting that there was no basis for the allegation that the Chief Minister had not fully and properly disclosed his assets and liabilities. He highlighted the evolution of the legal requirement for candidates to disclose their financial information, tracing it back to the 170th Law Commission report of 1999, which recommended the measure for the first time. This was followed by a series of subsequent judgments on the issue.

However, Sridevan's argument session was cut short, and the court decided to hear him again the following day as he had not completed his submission. The judge also granted the Dinesh petition's counsel, V.R. Shanmuganathan, an opportunity to respond once Sridevan's arguments were fully presented.