Justice Radzi Abdul Hamid dismissed rival Barisan Nasional (BN) contestant M Ramasamy’s election petition challenging Yuneswaran’s victory.

The court held that Ramasamy’s petition was defective and did not comply with the requirements of the Election Offences Act 1954.

Yuneswaran won in Segamat with a majority of 5,669 votes in November last year. He defeated Ramasamy, Perikatan Nasional’s P Poobalan and Pejuang’s Syed Hairoul Faizey.

Radzi ordered Ramasamy to pay costs of RM30,000 each to Yuneswaran and the Election Commission (EC).

In his petition, Ramasamy claimed Yuneswaran and his agents violated election rules regarding campaign materials.

The MIC man also alleged that Yuneswaran distributed food parcels to voters on the campaign trail.

Lawyers G Manivanan, Adi Zulkarnian Zulkafli and Lau Yi Leong, appeared for Yuneswaran, while Shafee Abdullah appeared for Ramasamy.

Senior federal counsel Zureen Elina Dom appeared for the EC.

The petition was one of 11 filed by candidates to challenge results in GE15.