18 MLAs removed as state government faced danger, says Speaker’s counsel

The AIADMK government faced imminent danger as there was every possibility for the then Governor to act on the representation of the 18 MLAs and dissolve the government.

CHENNAI: The AIADMK government faced imminent danger as there was every possibility for the then Governor to act on the representation of the 18 MLAs and dissolve the government, Aryama Sundaram, senior counsel for the Assembly Speaker, told the Madras High Court on Wednesday.

When arguments on the petitions from the 18 MLAs resumed before the third judge Justice M Sathyanarayanan, Sundaram said that when the ruling party MLAs presented a petition against the Chief Minister, the only role the Governor had in such a situation was to dissolve the government. Petitioning him to do his constitutional duty is nothing but asking him to dissolve the government, which attracts the anti-defection law, he said.

The allegation, levelled by the MLAs against the Speaker that he was trying to create an artificial majority in case of a floor test, implied that if the legislators were not removed, there would not be majority for the government, he added.

Alleging that the government, headed by Edappadi K Palanisamy, was in constitutional crisis then, they (18 MLAs) wanted the AIADMK to remove the CM, who was elected by the majority. As the party refused, they petitioned the Governor against the stand taken by the party.

“If they are in disagreement with the decision of the party, they should have left it or if they wanted to remain in the party, they should try to settle the issue internally. But choosing to petition the Governor clearly implies that they are acting against the party,” he said.

“They might be noble souls wanting the party to work for the betterment of the people, but if the party decided the opposite, they cannot compel the party to adopt their stand,” added Sundaram.

Internal solving
If they are in disagre-ement with the decision of the party, they should have left it or tried to settle the issue internally, said Sundaram

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