Ticked off by the Madras High Court for failing to promptly register a case of electoral malpractice against former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalitha in 2001, an embarrassed Election Commission Monday sought to put the blame for its failure on DMK parliamentarian C. Kuppuswami.

In an affidavit, the commission told the Supreme Court that before the poll panel could begin prosecuting Jayalalitha in 2001, DMK MP Kuppuswamy had moved the Madras High Court for a direction to prosecute her.

Ironically, it was on Kuppswamy's Public Interest lawsuit that the high court had ordered the poll panel on June 13 this year to register cases against Jayalalitha for concealing the information from returning officers of two assembly constituencies in the state that she had filed nomination papers from two other constituencies as well during the 2001 general assembly elections in the state.

Ordering registration of criminal cases against the AIADMK supremo, the high court had then also censured the poll panel saying, "In the strong opinion of the court, the Election Commission did not act in the manner required by the law."

As per statutory provisions, a candidate can contest an assembly election or Lok Sabha election from a maximum of two seats at a time.

Jayalalitha, however, had filed nomination papers to fight elections from four assembly seats - Andipatti, Krishnagiri, Bhuvanagiri and Pudukotti - and had allegedly made false declaration to the returning officers that she was contesting from only two constituencies.

Her nomination papers were, however, rejected for a different reason - she had been convicted by a trial court in early 2001 in a land deal scam, entailing a three-year jail term. And as per the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, a convict with a jail term longer than two years is disqualified from contesting any election.

The poll panel filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court in response to Jayalalitha's appeal against the high court order of June 13 to register cases against her. The Election Commission got a case registered against Jayalalitha on July 9.

On the appeal by Jayalalitha, the Supreme Court on July 10 stalled probe into the case.

As Jayalalitha's appeal came up for hearing Monday before the apex court, the bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan adjourned the hearing on the matter for four weeks.

Meanwhile, DMK MP Kuppuswamy, in a separate affidavit to the apex court, accused her of unduly influencing the returning officers of Bhuvangiri and Puddukotai assembly constituencies during the 2001 assembly elections.

"J. Jayalalitha exerted undue influence over the two returning officers so that they do not perform their duties properly. Both these returning officers found that Jayalalitha made false declarations in her nomination papers to them. Yet they did not want to prosecute her," Kuppuswamy told the apex court in his affidavit.