A Sanathana Kumar, a voter, challenged Kanimozhi’s election from Thoothukudi in 2019, saying she failed to mention her husband’s Permanent Account Number (PAN) in her election affidavit
The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed proceedings pending in the Madras high court over pleas challenging the election of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Member of Parliament (MP) Kanimozhi from Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi
DMK Member of Parliament Kanimozhi. (HT PHOTO)
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“The election petition is dismissed. The appeal is allowed,” said a bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi while quashing the proceedings.
A Sanathana Kumar, a voter, challenged Kanimozhi’s election from Thoothukudi in 2019, saying she failed to mention her husband’s Permanent Account Number (PAN) in her election affidavit.
Kanimozhi said her husband, a Non-Resident Indian living in Singapore, neither possessed a PAN card nor does he pay any income tax in India.
Kanimozhi defeated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Tamilisai Soundararajan, who has since become the Telangana governor. A Muthuramalingam, a local BJP leader, substituted Soundararajan as a party in the high court in her plea against Kanimozhi’s election after she become the governor.
The high court in 2019 rejected Kanimozhi’s plea for dismissal of the two election petitions challenging her election, saying the proceedings necessarily needed be taken to their logical end.
Utkarsh Anand is the National Legal Editor at Hindustan Times, where he leads the newspaper's coverage of the Supreme Court, constitutional law, the judiciary and the Union law ministry. He joined Hindustan Times in 2020 after stints at Press Trust of India (PTI), The Indian Express and CNN-News18, and has over two decades of experience reporting on law, governance and public policy. His work has focussed on some of India's most consequential constitutional and legal developments, including the Supreme Court's judgments on Article 370, marriage equality, decriminalisation of homosexuality, the Babri Masjid dispute, electoral reforms and judicial appointments. He specialises in making complex legal proceedings and judgments accessible to readers while examining their wider social and political impact. Beyond daily reportage, Utkarsh has led investigative projects and enterprise reporting that have shaped public debate and prompted institutional responses. His work has received several journalism awards, including the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award. As National Legal Editor, he has also played a key role in expanding Hindustan Times' legal journalism footprint, mentoring reporters and strengthening coverage across platforms. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow, Utkarsh regularly writes analyses on the judiciary and constitutional issues, and his reporting is widely followed by lawyers, judges, policymakers, academics and readers seeking clarity on India's evolving legal landscape.
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