CHENNAI : P VETRIVEL and three other MLAs owing allegiance to the TTV faction of the AIADMK, have moved the Madras High Court to disqualify seven MLAs, including O Panneerselvam, who had voted against Edappadi K Palaniswami during the confidence vote on the floor of the Assembly on February 18 last.
The first bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar, before which the PILs came up on Monday, issued notices to the Assembly Speaker and the chief government Whip and posted the matter for hearing on November 16 along with other connected petitions.The petitioners submitted that they had already given a representation to the Speaker on March 20 last to disqualify the MLAs who had voted against the present chief minister, despite a direction not to do so from the chief government Whip, but there was no action.
On the other hand, he had taken immediate action on a letter given by the government Whip on August 24 last for the disqualification of the 18 MLAs belonging to the TTV group.Stating that voting contrary to the direction of the chief government Whip attracted the disqualification of the seven MLAs - Semmalai, Chinnaraj, Manoharan, Manoranjitham, K Pandiarajan, Nataraj and OPS - under the TN Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules and as per para 2(1)(b) of the X Schedule of the Constitution, the petitioners sought a direction to the Speaker to initiate appropriate proceedings under the Schedule against the seven MLAs.
PIL against Health minister dismissed
Chennai: A PIL plea against Health Minister C Vijaya Basker, seeking to disqualify him from holding the post, has been dismissed as withdrawn by the Madras High Court. In his writ petition, activist ‘Traffic’ K R Ramaswamy sought the disqualification of Vijaya Basker in view of allegations of electoral malpractices pending against him.
When the PIL petition came up for hearing before the first bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar, the petitioner pointed out that the Income Tax department had conducted raids at his and his close associates’ residences in connection with the alleged malpractices during the countermanded RK Nagar by-poll. Claiming that the department had sent a report to the Election Commission on the raid and the alleged involvement of the minister in the offences, the petitioner said that Vijaya Basker was no longer eligible to occupy the post.
‘Delay in local body polls not wilful’
Chennai:The State Election Commission submitted before the Madras High Court on Monday that the delay in conducting local body polls was not a wilful disobedience of court orders. T S Rajasekar, secretary, Tamil Nadu State Election Commission, submitted this as the court was hearing a contempt petition filed by the DMK over failure of the commission in conducting the local body polls.
The Madras HC had ordered the Commission to issue election notice by September 18 and hold elections by November 17. But the polls were not conducted citing various reasons. The DMK subsequently filed a contempt petition and at the last hearing on Friday, the court mandated the presence of the senior officials of the Commission during the next hearing scheduled for Tuesday.