India, May 11 -- Bengaluru The Madras High Court, in a special sitting on Sunday, directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to file an affidavit explaining why it had not responded to representations filed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader KR Periyakaruppan over a disputed postal ballot in the Tiruppattur assembly constituency in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu elections.

Periyakaruppan lost the seat in Sivagangai district to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) candidate R Seenivasa Sethupathi by a single vote in the April 23 assembly polls. He challenged the results that were announced on May 4.

In his writ petition filed before the high court, Periyakaruppan sought a direction to secure and account for a postal ballot that ...