The Madras High Court on Thursday upheld Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi’s nomination of three members to the Legislative Assembly, reported ANI. The move had triggered a political controversy in the Union Territory as it is usually the Speaker who appoints lawmakers.

A bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar also invalidated the Assembly secretary’s letter refusing to allow the three MLAs to attend House proceedings, reported The Times of India.

On July 4, 2017, Bedi had administered the oath of office to Bharatiya Janata Party’s Puducherry chief V Saminathan, party treasurer KG Shankar and pro-BJP educationist S Selvaganapathy. In protest, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam along with 24 Tamil outfits organised a bandh on July 8. “Though one of the nominated legislators has criminal cases, it has not deterred the Lt governor from administering [the] oath secretly,” DMK Working President MK Stalin had said.

The Puducherry government and LG Kiran Bedi had been at loggerheads prior to the appointments. On June 16, 2017, the Assembly had passed a resolution asking the central government to curtail the powers of the lieutenant governor, alleging that Bedi was not cooperating with the state government.