{"id":399411,"date":"2026-10-21T15:30:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T10:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=399411"},"modified":"2026-10-21T15:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T10:05:20","slug":"madras-high-court-children-election-campaign-bad-taste-election-petition-tvk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/10\/21\/madras-high-court-children-election-campaign-bad-taste-election-petition-tvk\/","title":{"rendered":"Use of children to influence voters is in “bad taste”, but does not warrant setting aside election: Madras HC rejects plea against TVK candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Madras High Court:<\/span> In an application filed under Order 14 Rule 8, High Court O.S. Rules, read with Sections 81<\/a> and 86(1)<\/a>, Representation of the People Act, 1951<\/a> (the Act), and Order 7 Rule 11<\/a> and Section 151<\/a>, Civil Procedure Code, 1908<\/a> (CPC), seeking rejection of the election petition challenging Rajendran R.’s election as the Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Salem North Assembly Constituency, a Single Judge Bench of D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, J.<\/span>, held that persuading parents through children to vote for a particular candidate did not, by itself, amount to undue influence under Section 123(2)<\/a> of the Act<\/a>. The Court described the involvement of children in such campaigning as being in “bad taste” and reflecting “poor parenting”, but held that the allegations did not disclose a triable issue of undue influence. It further held that violation of the Election Commission of India’s circular prohibiting the use of children in election campaigns was not, by itself, a ground to invalidate the election.<\/p>\n

“The entire act of involving tender children is in bad taste, and the tasks they were allowed to perform reflect poor parenting; making reels out of it is cheap and politically motivated. This is a larger debate for the nation and Parliament to consider, including whether to prohibit it or make it grounds to set aside the election.”<\/p>\n

“The plea, the children’s consequential actions, and the adults’ disclosure and behaviour do not disclose a triable issue of undue influence, even assuming that the allegations contained in the Election Petition are uncontroverted and true. I am unable to hold that the Election Petition discloses a cause of action for the grant of relief to the election petitioner.”<\/p>\n

Background<\/p>\n

K. Sivakumar, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidate who contested the 2026 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections from Salem North, filed an election petition challenging the election of Rajendran R., the Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) candidate. Rajendran was declared elected after securing 85,710 votes, while Sivakumar secured 71,676 votes.<\/p>\n

The election petitioner challenged the returned candidate’s election on two principal grounds.<\/p>\n

First, he alleged that children had been used in TVK’s election campaigning in violation of the Election Commission of India’s circular prohibiting the participation of children in election-related activities. A complaint was lodged by a member of the DMK Legal Wing on 11 April 2026, accompanied by videos allegedly showing children participating in campaign rallies. A separate complaint was also lodged by an official in charge of the Video Surveillance Team, leading to the registration of an FIR.<\/p>\n

Second, the election petitioner alleged that Joseph Vijay, the president of TVK, had, in a speech delivered on 21 April 2026 at the YMCA Grounds, Nandanam, appealed to children to persuade their parents and other family members to vote for TVK and its Whistle symbol. The appeal allegedly encouraged children to repeatedly pressurise their parents, drawing an analogy with children demanding chocolates.<\/p>\n

The petition also referred to social media videos allegedly showing children threatening, intimidating or physically confronting family members over their voting choices. According to the election petitioner, these acts exploited familial relationships and exerted emotional pressure on adult voters, amounting to undue influence under Section 123(2)<\/a> of the Act<\/a>. He contended that the alleged corrupt practice materially affected the election and warranted its invalidation under Sections 100(1)(b<\/span>) and 100(1)(d<\/span>)(ii<\/span>)<\/a> of the Act<\/a>. He also invoked Section 100(1)(d<\/span>)(iv<\/span>), alleging non-compliance with the Election Commission’s Circular.<\/p>\n

The returned candidate sought rejection of the election petition under Order 7 Rule 11<\/a> CPC<\/a>, contending that the allegations, even if accepted as true, did not satisfy the statutory grounds for declaring an election void.<\/p>\n

Issues<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Whether an application seeking rejection of an election petition could be considered when it was filed after the returned candidate had submitted a written statement.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Whether violation of the Election Commission of India’s circular prohibiting the use of children in election campaigning constituted a ground to invalidate an election under Section 100(1)(d<\/span>)(iv<\/span>)<\/a> of the Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Whether an appeal by the leader of a political party asking children to persuade their parents and elders to vote for the party could constitute a corrupt practice attributable to the returned candidate.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    Whether the appeal to children and their consequential conduct disclosed a triable issue of undue influence under Section 123(2)<\/a> of the Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Analysis and Decision<\/p>\n

    Rejection of an election petition after filing of the written statement<\/p>\n

    The Court held that an application for rejection of an election petition must be examined on its merits, notwithstanding that it was filed after the written statement.<\/p>\n

    Relying on Hari Shanker Jain<\/span> v. Sonia Gandhi<\/span>, (2001) 8 SCC 233<\/a>, Azhar Hussain<\/span> v. Rajiv Gandhi<\/span>, 1986 Supp SCC 315<\/a> and Ram Sukh<\/span> v. Dinesh Aggarwal<\/span>, (2009) 10 SCC 541<\/a>, the Court reiterated that an election petition must disclose a complete cause of action and plead the material facts necessary to sustain the challenge. The filing of a written statement or a denial of the allegations does not prevent the Court from examining whether the election petition discloses a cause of action.<\/p>\n

    The Court emphasised that election petitions must satisfy the statutory requirements strictly, since prolonged litigation without a sustainable cause of action may impede an elected representative’s discharge of public duties.<\/p>\n

    Violation of the Election Commission’s Circular was not, by itself, a ground to invalidate the election<\/p>\n

    The Court examined the Election Commission of India’s directions prohibiting political parties, candidates and their agents or representatives from involving children in election campaigns, rallies, slogan shouting, canvassing and other election-related activities.<\/p>\n

    The Court noted that the directions had emerged in the context of proceedings before the Bombay High Court concerning the participation of children in political rallies. The Election Commission had undertaken to address non-compliance through the consequences available under para16-A of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, in relation to recognised political parties.<\/p>\n

    The Court distinguished between the consequences of violating the Election Commission’s directions and the statutory grounds on which an election may be declared void. Under Section 100(1)(d<\/span>)(iv<\/span>)<\/a> of the Act<\/a>, the election petitioner must establish non-compliance with the Constitution, the Act, or rules or orders made under the Act, and plead that such non-compliance materially affected the result of the election insofar as it concerned the returned candidate.<\/p>\n

    Relying on Jitu Patnaik<\/span> v. Sanatan Mohakud<\/span>, (2012) 4 SCC 194<\/a>, and Kanimozhi Karunanidhi<\/span> v. A. Santhana Kumar<\/span>, (2024) 18 SCC 592<\/a>, the Court held that the circular, although issued in exercise of the Election Commission’s constitutional powers under Article 324, could not be treated as an order under the Act for the purposes of Section 100(1)(d<\/span>)(iv<\/span>).<\/p>\n

    Accordingly, the alleged violation of the circular did not, by itself, furnish a ground to set aside the returned candidate’s election under that provision.<\/p>\n

    Campaign speech by the political party leader was not attributable to the returned candidate as a corrupt practice<\/p>\n

    The Court examined whether the speech by the president of TVK could constitute undue influence attributable to the returned candidate under Sections 123(2)<\/a> and 100<\/a> of the Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    It observed that the statutory framework requires the alleged corrupt practice to be committed by the candidate, the candidate’s agent, or another person acting with the consent of the candidate or the election agent, as applicable under the relevant provision.<\/p>\n

    The Court held that the appeal made by the political party leader could not, merely by virtue of his position as party president, be treated as a corrupt practice committed by the returned candidate or with the returned candidate’s consent. Even assuming that the speech had been made as alleged, the facts pleaded did not bring the conduct within the relevant statutory grounds for invalidating the election.<\/p>\n

    Persuasion through children did not disclose a triable issue of undue influence<\/p>\n

    The Court examined the scope of undue influence under Section 123(2), which covers direct or indirect interference, or an attempt to interfere, with the free exercise of an electoral right.<\/p>\n

    Relying on Shiv Kirpal Singh<\/span> v. V.V. Giri<\/span>, (1970) 2 SCC 567<\/a>, and Krishnamoorthy<\/span> v. Shivakumar<\/span>, (2015) 3 SCC 467<\/a>, the Court distinguished ordinary persuasion and canvassing from conduct that overpowers an elector’s free will and volition.<\/p>\n

    The Court acknowledged that children can exert considerable influence over their parents and elders. It also recognised the concerns arising from involving minors in election campaigns and using them to influence adult voters through familial and emotional bonds.<\/p>\n

    However, the Court observed that the videos involved young children who neither possessed mobile phones nor independently created social media reels. Adults had shown them the political leader’s appeal, made them perform the acts and circulated the recordings. In these circumstances, the children’s conduct could not be viewed as their independently exercising a form of coercion that overpowered the adults’ volition.<\/p>\n

    The Court held that, at best, the conduct amounted to an attempt to convince adults to vote for a particular party or candidate. Even if adults claimed to have voted in response to their children’s demands, their decision to do so, or to use the children’s demands as a reason for their choice, remained an exercise of their own volition.<\/p>\n

    The Court characterised the involvement of children in this manner as being in poor taste and politically motivated, while observing that whether such conduct should be prohibited more comprehensively or made an independent ground for setting aside an election was a larger question for Parliament to consider.<\/p>\n

    It ultimately held that the allegations, even if assumed to be true and uncontroverted, did not disclose a triable issue of undue influence or a cause of action warranting the relief sought.<\/p>\n

    The Court allowed the returned candidate’s application and consequently rejected the election petition. No order as to costs was made, and the security deposit paid by the election petitioner was directed to be refunded.<\/p>\n

    [K. Sivakumar<\/span> v. Rajendran R.<\/span>, OA No. 890 of 2026 in ELP No. 46 of 2026, decided on 15-10-2026<\/span>]<\/p>\n\n

    Advocates who appeared in this case:<\/p>\n

    For Applicant:<\/span> Mr.G.Murugendran<\/p>\n

    For Respondents:<\/span> N.R.Elango, Senior Counsel, Mr.Niranjan Rajagopalan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Madras High Court held that exploiting familial bonds and emotions to influence voters could not, by itself, amount to undue influence, as it did not overpower adults’ free will. The Court observed that adults who chose to vote a particular way in response to their children’s demands were exercising their own volition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67512,"featured_media":399414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[117683,48117,2567,45501,117681,2839,117682],"class_list":["post-399411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-highcourts","tag-2026-tamil-nadu-assembly-elections","tag-election-law","tag-Madras_High_Court","tag-representation-of-the-people-act-1951","tag-tvk-candidate-election-petition","tag-undue_influence","tag-use-of-children-in-election-campaigns"],"yoast_head":"\nChildren in Election Campaigns, Undue Influence | SCC Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Madras High Court rejects election petition against a TVK candidate, holding that using 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