Today, the High Court will pronounce its verdict on the petition filed by M. Swaraj seeking annulment of the election victory of Tripunithura MLA K. Babu. Justice PG Ajithkumar will judge the case.
M. Swaraj has accused K. Babu of using Ayyappan’s picture to get votes in the Tripunithura assembly elections. Therefore, through the petition, Swaraj had demanded that K. Babu’s victory should be nullified and he should be declared the winner.
The main allegation is that Ayyappan’s photo was placed along with the candidate’s photo on the slips distributed to homes in the context of the election. Swaraj had also alleged that if K. Babu loses it is the same as Ayyappan losing. Swaraj had presented the evidence on K. Babu’s Facebook page and the voter’s slips distributed at homes. But K. Babu’s argument is that no vote was taken in Ayyappan’s name and LDF did not raise such a complaint during the election or in the days immediately following it.
As it was an election case, the court had directly examined the important witnesses. Swaraj approached the High Court in June 2021. Although K. Babu approached the High Court pointing out that Swaraj’s election petition would not stand, the Supreme Court ordered that the petition should stand and that the trial should be completed quickly and the verdict given.
