Madras HC seeks to recover salary paid to disqualified MLA

The Madras high court on Tuesday ordered the recovery of Rs 21.58 lakh salary and allowances paid to a Congress legislator, who was disqualified in 2011 after serving a full term for violating election rules.

P Veldurai was elected from Tamil Nadu’s Cheranmahadevi constituency in 2006. He managed to serve the full term as a petition challenging his victory remained pending until 2011.

Veldurai was a government contractor at the time of filing his nomination, making him ineligible to contest the election. This aspect was overlooked during the scrutiny of his nomination papers.

One of the candidates, who lost to Veldurai, challenged his election. But the high court dismissed the petition in this regard. The Supreme Court eventually disqualified Veldurai and set aside his election.

The Tamil Nadu assembly secretary later issued a notice to Veldurai asking him to repay the salary and allowances he had received. Veldurai challenged the notice before the high court, which directed him to pay ~ 21.58 lakh within four weeks.

“Since the SC, in April 2011, had declared the election null and void, Veldurai should repay the salary and allowances spent by the government.hs within four weeks,” the HC has said in the order.

First Published: Feb 26, 2019 23:42 IST