CHENNAI: The Madras High Court dismissed a PIL seeking a CBI probe into four AIADMK MLAs resigning their posts to join the ruling TVK, holding that the petition failed to produce even an iota of tangible material to prove the allegations of horse trading.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan commented that the entire edifice of the petition rests on conjectures, suspicion and a total absence of foundational material facts.
The bench explained it is a well-settled principle of constitutional and criminal jurisprudence that an investigation by a specialised agency like the CBI cannot be ordered solely based on the subjective belief of a litigant.
Pleadings in a PIL targeting public dignitaries and elected representatives “must possess a high degree of precision” and should be backed by relevant material obtained upon research and “not based on speculative hypotheses”, it stressed.
Stating that a ‘fishing and roving enquiry’ cannot be directed by a constitutional court under Article 226 of the Constitution based on vague assertions, the bench remarked the extraordinary power to order a CBI probe is to be exercised sparingly, cautiously and only in exceptional situations where prima facie case of a clear cognisable offence is established. It said, “This PIL petition is nothing but a classic example of a fishing expedition.”
“While a sudden realignment of political loyalty by these particular MLAs may cause financial strain due to the necessity for conducting a by-election, such political choices do not ipso facto translate into criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act in the complete absence of proof of an unlawful quid pro quo,” the bench added and dismissed the petition.