Supreme Court Dismisses Petition Against AIADMK MLAs Who Resigned to Join Vijay’s TVK
The Madras High Court had earlier affirmed the Speaker accepting the resignations and granted two months to conclude proceedings on pleas for disqualification.
Rejecting the plea challenging resignations of six former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLAs who defected and joined Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) ahead of the State Assembly polls last year, the Supreme Court said on Monday that there is nothing illegal in the legislators tendering their resignations and being accommodated in the government.
Justice Joymalya Bagchi, who read out the Bench judgment, said, “When an elected representative resigns from membership of the legislature and joins the ministry, it is but part of the democratic game”. The Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana said, “ Counsel for petitioner seeks judicial intervention under writ jurisdiction saying that there is vacuum in law in Tenth Schedule”. Petitioner’s counsel said politicians try to avoid getting disqualified by tendering resignation under Article 190(3)(b) of Constitution and joining hands with the ruling dispensation.
He added that FIR has been filed in the case of alleged horse-trading and inducement of the MLAs. “We are not entertaining this petition under constitutional jurisdiction. Writ jurisdiction and investigation by filing an FIR are two different things”, said the Bench refusing to pass any order on the plea.
“You can allow investigation to take place on the FIR. Let law take its course,” Justice Bagchi told the petitioner’s counsel while dismissing the plea.
The Supreme Court passed the order after hearing Senior Advocate Sanjay Hedge and Additional Solicitor General of India Indira Jain for the state government.
The apex court order came after a Division Bench of Madras High Court refused to interfere with the Speaker accepting the resignations of six former AIADMK MLAs who joined Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
Senior Advocate Gnani Lakshminarayanan appearing for AIADMK Whip Agri SS Krishnamurthy had challenged the Speaker accepting the resignations instantly and urged to revoke his decision. The plea argued that when MLAs have already attracted disqualification due to anti-party activities ought to be disqualification should be considered.
Last month, a Division Bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice Arul Murugan held, “The resignation of a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and disqualification proceedings under the Tenth Schedule are separate processes under the Constitution.”
“If the resignation is accepted, it would not make proceedings pending under the Tenth Schedule infructuous ab initio. The Speaker shall conclude the proceedings on the petitions under the Tenth Schedule within two months from today.”
