CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Tuesday reserved orders on petitions challenging the Assembly Speaker's decision to accept the resignations of six AIADMK MLAs.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan reserved its verdict after hearing arguments from all parties concerned.
Petitions seeking to quash the Speaker's orders were filed by former AIADMK minister and party whip Agri SS Krishnamurthy, along with Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi president ML Ravi.
During the hearing, senior counsel CS Vaidyanathan, appearing for the Speaker, submitted that an MLA cannot be compelled to remain in office if he wishes to resign. He argued that the Speaker's scope is limited to examining whether a resignation was voluntary, while allegations regarding ministerial posts, money, or horse-trading could only be examined during disqualification proceedings. Contending that the Speaker had committed no violation, he urged the court to dismiss the petitions.
Senior counsel Satish Parasaran, representing the resigned MLAs, submitted that resigning as an MLA and subsequently joining another party was part of democratic politics. He added that the voters of their respective constituencies could question the MLAs' resignations.
Advocate General Vijay Narayan, appearing for the Assembly Secretary, argued that once MLAs had genuinely tendered their resignations voluntarily, the Speaker could not refuse to accept them.
Meanwhile, counsel for Esakki Subbaiah informed the Bench that an additional petition would be filed, stating that he had withdrawn his resignation and written to the Speaker on August 28 seeking permission to continue as the Ambasamudram MLA until the final disposal of the election petition, as the absence of an MLA was affecting his constituents.
However, the court refused to entertain the additional petition.