CHENNAI: Two of the three AIADMK legislators, who earlier expressed support for AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran, claim they have filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking to restrain the Assembly Speaker from disqualifying them. Addressing the media on Friday, MLAs E Rathinasabapathy and VT Kalaiselvan cited an earlier High Court order that says the Speaker cannot disqualify legislators when there is a no-confidence motion pending against the Speaker himself. Their petition, they said, would be heard on Monday.
It was the Opposition party, DMK, which filed the no-confidence motion against the Speaker. Asked why the third MLA (A Prabhu) had not filed the petition in the Supreme Court, Kalaiselvan said he was out of station and hence could not sign the papers. He said Prabhu would file a separate petition on Monday. “We are expecting a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court,” said the duo. When asked if they had responded to the Speaker’s notice, Rathinasabapathy said: “We received the notice on Thursday. We will respond after consulting legal experts on the matter.”
“We are still members of the AIADMK,” the MLA said, adding that they were functioning as a separate camp within the party due to “difference in opinion” with the high command. “The court also has permitted us (the AMMK) to function as a separate faction,” Rathinasabapathy claimed.
Speaker P Dhanapal issued show-cause notice to the three MLAs after the party whip S Rajendran filed a petition seeking the disqualification of the trio for openly supporting Dhinakaran and his AMMK party. The third MLA, A Prabhu, was not available for a comment.