CHENNAI: Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi's M L Ravi has moved the Madras High Court seeking to declare the Tamil Nadu government's gazette notification accepting the resignation of three AIADMK MLAs — Maragatham Kumaravel, S Jayakumar, and P Sathyabama — as illegal, arbitrary, unconstitutional, and contrary to the object and purpose of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
Petitioner's Demand
Ravi has urged the court to direct the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly to adjudicate and dispose of the pending disqualification petitions in accordance with the law and the principles laid down by the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Precedent
According to the petitioner, the Supreme Court in the Kihoto Hollohan case had recognised that the Tenth Schedule constitutes a vital constitutional mechanism intended to strengthen parliamentary democracy and prevent erosion of public confidence in elected institutions. However, the action of the Speaker defeats the very purpose of the constitutional scheme.
The Speaker, while exercising powers under the Constitution, is required to act in a manner that advances constitutional objectives and not in a manner that renders constitutional safeguards illusory. Acceptance of resignations without first deciding pending disqualification petitions permits circumvention of the Tenth Schedule and therefore amounts to an arbitrary exercise of constitutional power, he added.
Next Hearing
The plea filed in the High Court is likely to be taken up for hearing on Friday.
