Three MLAs to withdraw petition against Speaker in SC 

And now, the three AIADMK rebel MLAs who were served notices by Assembly Speaker for showing allegiance to AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran have also decided to withdraw the case filed before the Supreme Court.

Earlier, the MLAs filed petitions and obtained a stay order against the Speaker’s disqualification action. Besides the withdrawal of DMK’s no-confidence motion against the Speaker, the disqualification of 18 MLAs which made headlines followed by litigations had also fizzled out with the court ruling in favour of the Speaker.

Now, with the return of the sulking MLAs back to the ruling AIADMK, the case which is likely to come by next week will be withdrawn, said an AIADMK source. Of the three MLAs, two have already started their campaign for the Vellore Lok Sabha seat along with the AIADMK Ministers and entire party machinery is focussed on winning the Lok Sabha seat, the source said.

When contacted, Kallakurichi legislator A Prabhu said that all the three MLAs have put aside political difference between them and the parent AIADMK. We will soon withdraw the stay petition filed in the Supreme Court. It is a collective decision to stay united with the AIADMK to fight against our political rival DMK.

However, the sword of Damocles is still hanging for the AIADMK government led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami as there is a petition pending before the Supreme Court to decide on the fate of 11 AIADMK MLAs, including Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.

Earlier this month, the DMK moved the Supreme Court seeking an urgent hearing of its plea for disqualification of 11 AIADMK MLAs for voting against Chief Minister Palaniswami in a 2017 confidence motion. The bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it will consider listing the DMK’s petition, but the case is yet to be heard. It may be recalled that the Madras High Court in last April declined a plea by the DMK to disqualify the 11 MLAs.