P CHIDAMBARAM Vs. R S RAJA KANNAPPAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Applicant / Returned Candidate, who is presently the Union Home Minister, on an Election Petition filed against him, has filed an application to reject the Election Petition under Order VII Rule 11 CPC and also to strike out certain pleadings under Order VI Rule 16 CPC. THE present application under Order VII Rule 11 CPC is made for the second time, though on an earlier occasion, an application was filed under the said provision on different grounds.

(2.) FOR the sake of convenience, the petitioner in the Election Petition, who is the first respondent in this application, will be referred to as the "Election Petitioner", while the applicant in this application, who is the first respondent in the Election Petition will be referred to as the "Applicant" and the 19th respondent in the Election Petition will be referred to as the "19th respondent" in this order.

(3.) THE applicant has not filed any counter so far to the main election petition. He has filed an application in A.No.6941 of 2009 to dismiss the election petition under Order VII Rule 11 CPC. THE reason that was stated in the said application was that when his counsel inspected the Election Petition and other connected records, it revealed that the Election Petition that was filed on 25.06.2009 was scrutinized by the Court Officer in-charge of the Election Petition on 18.09.2009 and the said officer returned the Election Petition with certain endorsements. THE endorsements revealed that the Election Petition was defective. However, the same seems to have been rectified and represented without any formal return. THE said application filed on 21.12.2009 was dismissed on 04.08.2011. THE present application seems to have been filed on 11.07.2011 just before the pronouncement of the order in the original application. THE present application was filed under Order XIV Rule 8 of the High Court Rules r/w Order VI Rule 16 and Order VII Rule 11 of CPC and Sections 81, 82, 86, 100(1), (b), (d) (ii), (iii), (iv) and 123 of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951.