The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on Wednesday a plea filed by 18 disqualified MLAs of Tamil Nadu’s ruling party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, PTI reported on Monday. The MLAs sought to transfer their case from the Madras High Court to the Supreme Court after the lower court delivered a split verdict.
A vacation bench of Justices Arun Mishra and S K Kaul will hear the plea on Wednesday. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the 18 MLAs, said it was a serious matter that needs an urgent hearing as a judge of the Madras High Court is scheduled to hear the matter afresh.
The Madras High Court on June 18 appointed Justice S Vimala to hear the pleas against the disqualification of the rebel MLAs after two judges gave a split verdict on June 14. Chief Justice Indira Banerjee had upheld the disqualification, while Justice M Sundar disagreed.
In September 2017, Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal disqualified 18 MLAs of the AIADMK after they supported ousted party leader TTV Dinakaran. Their disqualification brought the Assembly’s effective strength down to 215 and the half-way mark to 108. If the MLAs are reinstated, the AIADMK government headed by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami could collapse.
The 18 MLAs are now supporting TTV Dinakaran, who has formed his own political outfit, the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam. He had won the RK Nagar bye-elections in December, necessitated by the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, by a huge margin.
There has been constant political bickering in the state after AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa died in December 2016. In February 2017, after O Panneerselvam had rebelled against VK Sasikala and quit as chief minister and the latter was convicted in a disproportionate assets case, high drama gripped the state.
A trust vote was held for MLAs to choose between the AIADMK factions, and Sasikala’s nominee Palaniswami. The DMK was evicted from the House during the vote, which ensured an easy win for Palaniswami. However, Palaniswami later swtiched sides and joined hands with the Panneerselvam faction.
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