TVK MLA R Seenivasa Sethupathi — who won by just one vote — on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court’s order restraining him from participating in the floor test in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.TVK leader C Joseph Vijay who took oath as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on May 10 has been asked by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to prove the majority of his Government on or before May 13.A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant agreed to take up Sethupathi’s petition on Wednesday after senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi mentioned it for urgent listing and hearingSethupathi had won No. 185 Tiruppattur Assembly constituency in Sivagangai district by a margin of just one vote against DMK leader and former minister KR Periakaruppan.On Periakaruppan’s petition alleging irregularities in the counting process and rejection of a postal ballot that was mistakenly sent to another constituency, the Madras High Court restrained Sethupathi from voting or participating in floor test, confidence motion, no-confidence motion, trust vote, pending further orders.The order has significant implications for the C Joseph Vijay-led TVK-led alliance which has the support of 120 MLAs in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly.With Sethupathi barred from participating in voting proceedings, its effective strength in the House would be reduced to 119, leaving it with a razor-thin majority of one member.Periakaruppan alleged that one postal ballot meant for No. 185 Tiruppattur constituency was wrongly sent to No. 50 Tiruppattur Assembly constituency in Tirupattur district. The ballot was rejected there instead of being forwarded to the correct returning officer for consideration, he alleged.Due to alleged discrepancies in the EVM count, there was an 18-vote variation between the consolidated counting abstract and figures published on the Election Commission website, he had pointed out.In its interim order, the high court noted that a strong prima facie case had been made out for a limited protective direction even as it clarified that the order did not amount to setting aside Sethupathi’s election, nor did it confer any right on Periakaruppan to be declared elected.The high court had directed authorities to secure and preserve all records related to the counting process in the No. 185 Tiruppattur Assembly constituency, video footage concerning counting, scrutiny, rejection of postal ballots and reverification proceedings, in their original electronic form along with backup copies.