Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], June 17 : The Madras High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to Tamil Nadu Speaker JCD Prabhakar seeking reply to petitions challenging the acceptance of four AIADMK MLAs' resignations. The first bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan has further adjourned the hearing to June 29.
The petitions were filed by AIADMK Chief Whip Agri SS Krishnamurthi, who alleged that Speaker Prabhakar failed to conduct an inquiry before accepting the resignations.
The petitioner highlighted that the tendering of resignation letters, their acceptance by the Speaker, the induction of the legislators into the TVK party, and the official notification of the vacant seats all occurred on the same day. Consequently, notices have been issued to the MLAs facing anti-defection proceedings, the Assembly Secretary, and the other respondents involved.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Madras High Court had dismissed a public interest litigation seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged horse-trading by functionaries of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which purportedly resulted in four AIADMK MLAs resigning from the party and joining the ruling outfit in Tamil Nadu.
A bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan questioned the maintainability of the plea and observed that a CBI investigation could not be ordered into the issue without any material or evidence indicating foul play or corrupt practices behind the resignation of the four legislators.
The Court held that the petition was founded on mere suspicion and lacked the factual basis necessary to invoke its extraordinary jurisdiction. It observed, "at the threshold, we must observe that the entire edifice of the writ petition rests upon conjectures, suspicion and a total absence of foundational material facts."
The bench reiterated that a CBI investigation could be directed only in exceptional cases supported by evidence. It noted "The extraordinary power to direct an investigation by the CBI is to be exercised sparingly, cautiously, and only in exceptional situations where a prima facie case of a clear cognizable offence is established by evidentiary facts."