CHENNAI: Madras high court has asserted that disqualification of 21 AIADMK MLAs, who voted in favour of TVK govt in the Tamil Nadu assembly defying the whip issued, does not arise as the general secretary of party has condoned the violation. Therefore, the speaker has rightly dropped the disqualification proceedings, the first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan said.The court outrightly rejected the contention of the petitioner that even though the general secretary of AIADMK had submitted a letter condoning the action of the members, the petition for disqualification survived and should be independently proceeded with by the speaker. Advocate P V Selvakumar had moved the petition challenging the decision of the speaker in dropping the disqualification proceedings against the 21 AIADMK MLAs.“Since the political party condoned the act of the members and the members thereafter continued to represent AIADMK, the disqualification sought under the tenth schedule to the Constitution by their conduct does not survive,” the judges said.Moreover, as the petitioner is entirely a third party who is in no way connected with the affairs of AIADMK, he lacked the locus to interfere with the internal affairs of the political party or to seek the disqualification of its members, they added.“The moment the general secretary of AIADMK submitted a letter dated July 25 to the speaker condoning the act of the 21 members, the question of their disqualification either for voluntarily giving up membership or voting in defiance of a whip does not arise and the speaker rightly dropped the disqualification proceedings,” the bench said.
