The Kerala High Court Friday set aside the election of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader M.J. Jacob who had defeated veteran United Democratic Front (UDF) leader T.M. Jacob in the April 2006 assembly polls from Ernakulam district's Piravom constituency.

The single bench of Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan, after hearing a petition filed by T.M. Jacob's agent A. Narayanan, ruled that M.J. Jacob had personally attacked the UDF legislator through leaflets which amounted to character assassination.

Justice Radhakrishnan said M.J. Jacob would not be eligible to attend the assembly session until he gets an order against the bench's decision. 'I will certainly appeal in the Supreme Court,' M.J. Jacob told reporters after the verdict.

T.M. Jacob, who had contested the polls on the ticket of Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran (DIC-K), was delighted with the verdict that went in his favour.

'During the election campaign, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) had resorted to a vicious and malicious campaign against me through leaflets and am happy that this verdict has done justice to our complaints,' T.M. Jacob.

His defeat came as a shock to the political circles because he had been a legislator right from 1977 till 2006. He had also been a minister for 14 years until he was denied a berth when Oommen Chandy became chief minister in 2004.

T.M. Jacob then became one of Chandy's biggest adversaries and even linked up his own Kerala Congress (Jacob) party with that of former chief minister K. Karunakaran's DIC-K.

But after the shock defeat in the polls, T.M. Jacob parted ways with Karunakaran and rejuvenated his own party. He is now trying to return to the Congress-led UDF.(Source: IANS)