CHENNAI: In a major relief for the Edappadi K Palaniswami led Tamil Nadu government, the Madras High Court has pronounced a split verdict on the disqualification of 18 MLAs of the Tamil Nadu assembly, who belong to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), but have pledged allegiance to the breakaway Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) led by TTV Dinakaran. This means, the cases regarding the matter will be sent to a larger bench. While Chief Justice Indira Banerjee upheld the disqualification of the MLAs, Judge M Sundar set aside the disqualification.
When the case is referred to a larger bench, if the MLAs win the case, the Tamil Nadu government could fall short of a majority in the Vidhan Sabha. Dhinakaran said that the “longevity of the anti-people government has been extended” because of the judgment. He said, “While one judge has deemed the Speaker's decision as invalid, CJI has ruled the Speaker's actions to be valid. But a couple of months ago, the CJI ruled in the Puducherry Speaker's case that his action wasn't valid. As a layman, I don't understand how there can be one law for TN's Speaker and one for Puducherry's Speaker.”
Dhinakaran said he could call for a floor test, but the 18 MLAs who are his supporters “are still a part of the AIADMK and only want a change of Chieff Minister.” He declared, “As an independent MLA, I want to remove his government.” Disqualified MLA Thanga Tamilselvan insisted that the disqualified MLAs continue to insist on the removal of Edappadi K Palaniswami as Chief Minister. He added that the judgment had extended the life of the anti-people government by a few months. “The people were looking forward to this judgment just like they were looking forward to the RK Nagar by-election results. They are beginning to question the court's actions.”
