CHENNAI : The First Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday rejected a plea from the DMK to disqualify O Panneerselvam (presently Deputy Chief Minister) and his group of 10 MLAs for allegedly defying the AIADMK party whip and voting against the ruling government in the confidence vote held on the floor of the Tamil Nadu Assembly on February 18 last year.
The court cannot interfere in the powers of the Assembly Speaker, observed the Bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose. The Bench was dismissing a PIL petition from DMK Whip R Sakkarapani to disqualify the 11 AIADMK MLAs.
The Bench said the issue involving the question of whether a mandamus can be issued to a Speaker is pending before the Supreme Court, which barred the High Court from interfering in such actions of the Speaker. According to petitioner Sakkarapani, the action of Paneerselvam and his team of legislators in voting against the government was contrary to the laws mandated under the TNLegislative (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1986.
Party whip not binding
■ O Panneerselvam and other MLAs, who had then revolted against the AIADMK leadership, voted against the trust vote sought by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on February 18, 2017
■ EPS won the vote by 122-11 margin
■ OPS later opposed the DMK plea saying the whip was issued only to the 122 MLAs staying in a resort