Madras High Court: 1 Historic Election Win for Appavu
Imagine running a tough race, crossing the finish line first, but the judges take a decade to declare you the winner. By the time they give you the medal, the prize money is gone, and the next race has already ended.
This absurd scenario just became a harsh reality in Indian politics. The Madras High Court recently declared DMK leader M Appavu as the true winner of the 2016 Radhapuram Assembly election. The shocking part? The term he won ended three years ago.
Let us dive into this frustrating legal battle. It shows exactly why delayed justice is a massive problem for India’s democracy.
The 2016 Election Dispute
In the 2016 Tamil Nadu General Assembly Elections, Appavu contested from the Radhapuram constituency. His rival was AIADMK candidate IS Inbadurai. The fight was incredibly close.
When the votes were counted, the Returning Officer made a controversial announcement. He declared Inbadurai the winner by a tiny margin of just 49 votes.
Appavu immediately cried foul. He argued that election officials wrongfully rejected 203 valid postal votes cast in his favor. The officials claimed these votes were invalid. They stated the postal ballots were attested by middle school headmasters, who allegedly were not “gazetted officers.”
Seeking justice, Appavu filed an Election Petition in the Madras High Court in 2016.
The High Court Orders a Recount
In 2019, Justice G Jayachandran of the Madras High Court examined the case. He ruled that headmasters were indeed authorized to attest the identity of voters. Consequently, he ordered a recount of the disputed postal votes and the EVMs right inside the court campus.
The recount happened on October 4, 2019. The results heavily favored Appavu. Out of the 203 rejected postal votes, he received 153 valid votes. Inbadurai received only one. Clearly, Appavu had won the election by 103 votes.
The Supreme Court Intervenes
Just as the High Court was about to announce the new results, the Supreme Court stepped in. On that exact same day, the apex court entertained a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by Inbadurai. The Supreme Court ordered the High Court to halt the declaration of the recount results.
What happened next is the most frustrating part. The Supreme Court kept this critical election matter pending for nearly six years. Finally, on May 21, 2026, the Supreme Court disposed of the SLP. The judges simply noted that the term of office had already expired. Therefore, they felt no useful purpose would be served in deciding the legal question.
A “Mockery of Justice”
The case returned to Justice Jayachandran at the Madras High Court. The judge was deeply upset. He openly criticized the Supreme Court’s approach. He stated that the apex court should have answered the legal question, as the High Court had already provided a clear finding.
Justice Jayachandran declared the 10-year delay a “grave mockery of justice.” He warned that failing to resolve election disputes quickly undermines democracy. It ruins the true spirit of adult franchise.
“The people of the constituency were forced to bear a person as their representative though he was not duly elected,” the judge powerfully noted.
The Final Verdict
The High Court finally declared Appavu the real winner of the 2016-2021 term. The judge ordered the Legislative Assembly Secretary to update all official records. Appavu’s name will replace Inbadurai’s for that specific term.
Furthermore, the Court prevented Inbadurai from claiming any MLA pension benefits for that five-year period. However, he was not officially disqualified.
This ruling is a bittersweet victory for Appavu. It restores his political honor. Yet, it highlights a terrifying flaw in our legal system. If courts take a decade to decide who won a five-year term, does the voter’s choice even matter anymore?
