No High Court relief to MLAs, Speaker gets notice

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan, while hearing the two petitions moved in this regard, also refused to grant any interim direction to allow the suspended MLAs to attend the ongoing session, observing, “Since it is a matter of function of the House and the order has been passed by the Speaker, we are not inclined to pass interim orders”.

However, the bench on recording the submission of the senior counsels appearing on behalf of the DMK that out of the suspension period of seven days, five days are over and that if interim prayer is not granted, a plea may be raised that the petitions have become redundant, said, “There will be no question of making the prayer infructuous as ultimately the validity of the resolution would have to be decided as it may have other ramifications.” 

Based on this, the bench ordered notice to the Chief Secretary and private notices to the Speaker and Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Legislative Assembly returnable by September 1, when the case is slated to be taken up for further hearing.

The pleas moved by DMK treasurer and Leader of Opposition M K Stalin and DMK MLA Palanivel Thiagarajan sought to stay the operation of the impugned resolution on August 17 and declare Rule 121 of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Rules as illegal and unconstitutional. Stalin had submitted that the blanket resolution to suspend all the members of the DMK Party by the Speaker is not only motivated and biased but also completely undermined democracy. When the matter came up, senior counsel for Stalin, Mohan Parasaran submitted that it was for the first time in the history of the Assembly that a resolution had been passed suspending en masse all opposition DMK MLAs.

As regards Rule 121, it was contended that the rule is unconstitutional as it provides for the grave punishment of suspension without hearing the member in question. 

Eight of the ten non-suspended members of the DMK came to the House by gagging their mouths with black cloth on Monday, as a mark of protest against the suspension of 79 of their party MLAs on July 17 by Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal for creating a ruckus. 

Soon after the House assembled for the day after weekend holidays to take up the demand for grants for police, fire and rescue services and prison departments, the non-suspended members, including former Ministers I Peraisamy, KN Nehru and Poongothai Aladi Aruna, urged the Chair to reconsider his earlier ruling suspending the DMK members for a week. 

The allies of the DMK, Congress and IUML members also made a similar plea. But Dhanapal said the DMK members were repeatedly criticising him outside the Assembly and despite repeated warnings they were not mending their ways. Since the Speaker refused to concede their demand, the DMK, Congress and the IUML members staged a walk out from the Assembly.