Madras HC has struck down allegations in petition: HM's lawyer

"Election law is a strict law. Rules regarding pleadings are very strict rules. Pleadings in an election petition that do not comply with the rules are liable to be struck out," T Sathyamurthy, advocate of the Home Minister, said in a statement.

In this case too, he said, as a matter of procedure, counsel for Chidambaram filed a petition under order 6 Rule 16 of the Civil Procedure Code to strike out certain pleadings.

"The High Court has partially accepted the petition and struck out two crucial paragraphs -- paragraphs 4 and 5 of the election petition. These paragraphs contained allegations against the returning officer, other govt servants and bank officials and alleged 'corrupt practices'.

"These pleadings have now been struck out," Sathyamurthy said.

The lawyer said as regards the other pleadings, issues will be framed and the trial of the election petition will begin.

"It is pertinent to point out that the trial of the election petition has not yet started and the case is at a preliminary stage," he said. (More)