Politicos can’t keep office after tenure: Madras HC
MADURAI: Stating that MLAs and MPs cannot squat over the office premises provided to them even after completion of their tenure, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by a former Member of Parliament R Gopalakrishnan to unseal a building rented to him by the Madurai Corporation when he assumed office in 2014.
Gopalakrishnan belongs to AIADMK and was a former Lok Sabha MP from Madurai. He submitted in the petition that on March 19, 2021, the flying squad officials made a surprise inspection at his office and seized the party banners.
They also sealed the premises and lodged a criminal complaint, he added. However, Justice N Anand Venkatesh dismissed the petition. He observed, “Persons holding a public office like an MP or MLA are supposed to vacate their premises immediately after their tenure is completed.
They are not expected to squat on a public property.” The judge also opined that if the building had been a private property of the petitioner, the court would have directed the authorities to remove the seal.