Tamil Nadu News

Madras HC on Radhapuram Poll

June 5 , 2026 15 hrs 0 min 28 0

The Madras High Court declared that M. Appavu had won the 2016 Radhapuram Assembly election, setting aside the election of I. S. Inbadurai after nearly ten years.
In the 2016 election, Inbadurai of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was originally declared the winner by a margin of 49 votes.
The Madras High Court later ruled that Appavu had actually won the election by a margin of 104 votes.
The court directed the Tamil Nadu Assembly Secretary to substitute Appavu’s name as the MLA for the Radhapuram constituency for the period 2016–2021.
The Supreme Court of India noted that two Assembly elections had already been held since 2016 and closed the matter on 21 May 2026, stating that further proceedings would serve no practical purpose.
The court observed that removing Inbadurai from office retrospectively or recovering the salary paid to him between 2016 and 2021 was not feasible, as he had already served his term as MLA.