AIADMK MLAs’ disqualification verdict HIGHLIGHTS: Will decide next course of action after meeting 18 rebels, says Dinakaran

Reacting to the court order, DMK chief M K Stalin said, "Democracy must be safeguarded. Already two assembly constituencies are vacant, now with the Madras HC verdict, 18 seats have fallen vacant. Therefore, the Election Commission should immediately take steps to fill them."

Besides the constituencies of the disqualified MLAs, the Tiruvarur and Thiruparankundram seats had fallen vacant following the death of late DMK chief M Karunanidhi and AIADMK's A K Bose respectively.

When asked about the disqualified MLAs' plea to hold bye-elections in their constituencies, Valarmathi said the AIADMK was ready and expressed confidence that the ruling party will emerge victorious in all the 20 seats.

AIADMK spokesperson P Valarmathi expressed joy over the verdict and said the K Palaniswami government has now proved its 'stability.' "We are very happy...this is a just order," Valarmathi told PTI.

Terming the order as a "slap in the face of traitors", Tamil Nadu Deputy Speaker Pollachi V Jayaraman told news agency ANI, "This is a victory for dharma and a slap in the face of traitors and cheaters. Even if an appeal is filed, we are sure that the truth will only win."

Welcoming the Madras High Court's verdict, the AIADMK said the order was a victory of democracy and is a “correct lesson for the traitors”. Read full story here.

From the death of AIADMK matriarch J Jayalalithaa to a massive fallout among leaders within the party, here is all that has happened so far.

While delivering the verdict, Justice Sathyanarayanan said there was no infirmity in the order of the Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal, which was upheld by Banerjee. "All the material that were available at the time of passing of the order by the Speaker alone have been taken into consideration and this court cannot go into the subsequent events," he observed while upholding their disqualification.

Reacting to the verdict, T T V Dinakaran told news agency ANI, "It is not a setback for us. This is an experience, we will face the situation. The future course of action will be decided after meeting with the 18 MLAs."

While delivering its verdict, the Madras High Court upheld the Tamil Nadu Speaker's decision to disqualify the MLAs.

The DMK, meanwhile, has started backroom negotiations for stitching together an alliance. While the party, along with Congress and IUML, already constitutes a powerful opposition in the Assembly, two more possible additions to the DMK front may be the Dalit party, Thol Thirumavalavan’s VCK, and CPI. Another party largely representing the Vanniyar community — S Ramadoss’s PMK — is also showing signs of breaking away from the NDA alliance. However, VCK’s presence is likely to spoil PMK’s prospects to join the DMK front for their traditional rivalry. CPM, meanwhile, appears to be in a fix owing to its stand to not enter an alliance with Congress in it. Read full story here. 

After former CM and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016, multiple factions of the party emerged. Dinakaran was expelled from the party after two factions, led by Palaniswami and Panneerselvam, agreed on a merger under the condition that Palaniswami becomes CM and Panneerselam deputy CM. Pannerselvam had become interim CM after Jayalalithaa’s death. Dinakaran later formed his own party, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (Amma People’s Progress Front). He contested the RK Nagar bypoll last December as an Independent and won with a huge margin, defeating the ruling AIADMK party as well as opposition DMK. The bypoll was necessitated after the death of Jayalalithaa.

Putting aside Dinakaran's claims, AIADMK said the former AIADMK leader was trying to “fish in troubled waters.” AIADMK spokesperson R M Babu Murugavel was quoted as saying by PTI, “Dinakaran is trying to fish in troubled waters. He and his aides will say anything to stay relevant. He is perhaps doing this to keep his flock together in the context of the case regarding disqualification of 18 AIADMK MLAs.”

Earlier this month, TTV Dinakaran, who was earlier an AIADMK leader, had alleged that Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam had met him in July 2017 and “confessed” that joining hands with Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswamy was wrong, and that he wished to become the chief minister. According to news agency PTI, OPS wanted to meet again in September to “oust” Palaniswami. Dinakaran added there was evidence to prove that their meeting was held. “He (Panneerselvam) wanted to meet me to oust the chief minister,” Dinakaran was quoted as saying by the news agency. His comments came a day after OPS reportedly told the media that he would support EPS to protect the government.

In the wake of the upcoming verdict, 22 MLAs, including T T V Dhinakaran, were moved to a “safe location" in Kerala on Monday. Sources close to Dhinakaran had said that he had met V K Sasikala, his aunt and expelled AIADMK leader, in the Bengaluru prison where he briefed her about the situation. “With her knowledge, he has asked everyone to move out of Chennai immediately. Most of the MLAs are there now. Everyone will be reaching a location near Kerala-Tamil Nadu border by Tuesday to stay there until the Madras High Court order is out and strategies are decided,” a leader had said.

If the verdict by the Madras HC today upholds the disqualification, bye-elections will be held on all the seats that would be vacant. However, if the Speaker’s decision to disqualify the MLAs is reversed, the EPS government would plunge into a minority and would have to face a floor test

What made the case significant was that the revolt of the 18 MLAs brought the Palaniswami government to a minority last year before the disqualification order. The government needed 117 MLAs in the 234-member House to retain a majority, but 122 MLAs were ranged on the other side, including 89 from DMK, eight from Congress, one from IUML and 24 with Dhinakaran. However, the minimum number needed came down to 107 with the disqualification of the 18 MLAs.

Refusing to transfer the matter from the Madras High Court to itself, the Supreme Court had appointed a new judge, Justice M Sathyanarayan of the same court, to hear and decide the case. “We consider it appropriate to assign the case on the difference of opinion to Justice M Sathyanarayanan. He will hear the matter and decide it,” the apex court had said.

The 18 disqualified MLAs of the AIADMK later moved the Supreme Court, seeking transfer of their petition challenging their disqualification by the Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker from Madras High Court. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the disqualified legislators, submitted to the vacation bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Sanjay Kishan Kaul that it is a serious matter that required an urgent hearing, as the High Court gave a split verdict on June 14. In their plea, the disqualified MLAs also claimed that the split verdict of Madras HC would further delay the holding of fresh elections to the Assembly. Singh also alleged that “through WhatsApp messages, (a) few persons already knew about the third judge who will be hearing the matter even before his name was cleared”.

In his order, Justice Sundar had said that it was appropriate to look at the question of whether adequate opportunity was given to the 18 MLAs by the Speaker. “It was argued before us emphatically that… three weeks time was given in the instant case. Testing whether principles of natural justice have been given a go-by, or not, may not be as simple as just counting the number of days given,” he had written in his order. Justice Sundar had also said that the Speaker’s order deserves to be set aside on the grounds of “perversity, non-compliance with the principles of natural justice and for the violation of constitutional mandate”.

In June this year, the Madras High Court had delivered a split verdict in the disqualification case. The two-member High Court bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar had reached a deadlock, with the CJ upholding the disqualification order passed by the Speaker last year. Justice Sundar, however, quashed the Speaker’s order. In her judgment, Chief Justice Banerjee had said that the most senior judge after her — senior judge Justice Huluvadi Ramesh — would nominate a third judge to hear the matter afresh. Status quo would continue till the third judge arrived at a verdict, the CJ had said. “In the instant case, as already indicated, under the scheme of the Tenth Schedule and the rules framed thereunder, the Speaker is the only authority to decide a disqualification petition," the CJ had said.

The 18 MLAs, who owe allegiance to Dhinakaran, the nephew of ousted AIADMK leader V K Sasikala, had moved against Palaniswami after he joined hands with the other rebel leader O Panneerselvam. Once a trusted aide of Sasikala, Palaniswami was appointed as CM after the Sasikala faction defeated Panneerselvam in a floor test in 2017. Speaker P Dhanapal had disqualified the AIADMK MLAs on the ground that they had tried to pull down the party’s government in the state. 

The Madras High Court will pronounce its verdict in the case against 18 AIADMK MLAs who were disqualified for “anti-party activities” today. The rebels, supporting the Sasikala-Dhinakaran faction, were disqualified by P Dhanapal, the Speaker of the House, last year under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution (known as the anti-defection law) after the former expressed lack of confidence in Chief Minister E Palaniswami. The rebels later moved a petition in the HC challenging the Speaker’s decision following which the court restrained the Election Commission from declaring their seats vacant. Follow our live blog for all latest updates.