Chennai, Oct. 7 -- The Madras High Court on Wednesday questioned whether the alleged omission of assets worth Rs.30 crore from Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay's election affidavit could amount to a "corrupt practice" when he had declared assets worth around Rs.600 crore.

Justice V Lakshminarayanan asked the question while hearing CM Vijay's application seeking that an election petition challenging his victory from the Perambur Assembly constituency be dismissed.

The judge asked whether an error by a "chartered accountant" who prepared the asset statement could "justify setting aside an election."

"When you become a judge, you are supposed to declare your assets. Do you think I sat and prepared the list? I relied on my chartere...