DMK moves privilege plea against minister Nirmal for MISA claim on Stalin

CHENNAI: The DMK on Tuesday submitted a petition to the Assembly Secretary, seeking privilege action against Minister R Nirmalkumar for his remarks about former Chief Minister MK Stalin during the Assembly proceedings, claiming that, as per House rules, such allegations cannot be made against people who are not present.

A team comprising DMK MLAs MRK Panneerselvam, Vasantham Karthikeyan and E Raja, led by DMK Whip EV Velu, submitted the petition to the Assembly Secretary.

Following the meeting, the DMK team told reporters that minister Nirmalkumar had spoken about leaders who were not present in the Assembly during the proceedings. They urged the Speaker to take action against the minister for breach of privilege.

Citing the Assembly rules and protocol, Whip Velu said that making allegations against a person who was not present in the House was contrary to the Assembly rules.

"If anyone needs to speak about a person who is not present in the House, prior intimation should be given to the Speaker. But Minister Nirmalkumar did not give any such intimation to the Speaker," Velu said.

He said if the Speaker referred the petition to the Privileges Committee, the committee, headed by Deputy Speaker M Ravishankar, would examine the matter and give the minister an opportunity to respond. Based on the committee's report, the Speaker would take appropriate action, he added.

Minister Nirmalkumar had claimed that there was no official record showing that former Chief Minister MK Stalin was arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). Speaking in the Assembly, the minister argued that not everyone detained during the Emergency period was necessarily arrested under MISA. He further alleged that Stalin had been arrested for other reasons, including remarks concerning former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.