CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Thursday issued notice to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Secretary and former AIADMK MLAs C Vijaya Baskar and MR Vijayabhaskar on a petition challenging the Speaker's decision accepting their resignations, and posted the matter to July 22 for further hearing.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan heard the plea on Wednesday. AIADMK party whip and former Agriculture Minister Agri SS Krishnamurthy has filed another petition before the Madras High Court challenging the Speaker's decision accepting the resignations of AIADMK MLAs C Vijaya Baskar and MR Vijayabhaskar.
In the petition, Krishnamurthy stated that C Vijaya Baskar and MR Vijayabhaskar, who were elected as AIADMK MLAs from the Viralimalai and Karur Assembly constituencies, respectively, in the recently concluded Assembly elections, resigned from their MLA posts and joined TVK.
He further submitted that Article 190 (3) (b) of the Constitution does not permit the Speaker to mechanically accept the resignation of a Member of the Legislative Assembly without due application of mind.
The petitioner submitted that although both MLAs were elected only in the April 2026 Assembly elections, they resigned within a short span for personal and political gain, leading to costly by-elections, an unnecessary burden on the State exchequer, misuse of public funds and avoidable administrative expenditure, while eroding public trust in the electoral mandate.
The petitioner has sought to quash the Speaker's order dated June 16, 2026, accepting the resignations of the two MLAs, and to restrain further steps towards filling the resultant vacancies through by-elections.