Chennai: In a reprieve to the ruling TVK govt in Tamil Nadu, the Madras high court on Friday dismissed pleas moved by AIADMK whip Agri S Krishnamurthy and others challenging the Assembly speaker’s decision to accept the resignations of six AIADMK MLAs.The six MLAs cross-voted in favour of the TVK govt during a confidence motion and later joined the ruling TVK.The first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan held that the resignation tendered by the defecting MLAs was ‘genuine and voluntary‘ and in terms of provision enshrined under the X Schedule of the Constitution.“The speaker of Tamil Nadu legislative assembly was not required to undertake a roving or fishing inquiry into the alleged motives behind them. Apparently, their acceptance and the consequential declaration of vacancies are constitutionally valid,” the court said.The pendency of disqualification proceedings did not constitutionally bar the speaker from accepting the resignations, as resignation and disqualification are two distinct constitutional processes. The speaker was therefore competent to accept the resignation notwithstanding the pending disqualification proceedings, the judges added.“The acceptance of resignations does not render the pending disqualification proceedings academic or infructuous. The speaker shall still finally adjudicate and decide the disqualification proceedings, and such determination shall carry the consequences prescribed under the X Schedule of the Constitution,” the bench said.The court asserted that the high court possesses the power under Article 226 of the Constitution to intervene where the speaker fails to decide disqualification proceedings within a reasonable period. “In the peculiar circumstances, a time-bound mandamus is being issued directing the speaker to conclude the disqualification proceedings finally within two months,” the court said.The primary contention of the petitioners was that the speaker should not have accepted the resignations of the MLAs before deciding the disqualification proceedings for crossvoting in favour of the TVK govt violating party whip.Addressing the issue as to whether the speaker was obligated to conduct a proper detailed inquiry before accepting the resignations of the defecting MLAs, the court said, “Under the sky, there is no room for speculations or presumptions for expecting the court or the speaker to inquire into the reasons behind the resignation or conduct any roving enquiry in relation thereof. The enquiry is only for the limited purpose of ascertaining whether the resignation is genuinely prepared and being tendered by the person concerned himself or through his authorised representative and whether it is not under duress, compulsion or undue influence.”Beyond this limited enquiry, the speaker cannot be required to stand in the shoes of an enquiry officer and undertake a detailed fishing enquiry, the bench added.
