Chennai, July 2:
Holding that MDMK General Secretary Vaiko, whose party had walked out of the already deserted DMK alliance a couple of days back and pledged its support to the TVK government of Chief Minister Vijay, had himself admitted of horsetrading allegedly indulged in by the ruling TVK, the main opposition DMK on Wednesday petitioned Tamil Nadu Governor R V Arlekar seeking a direction to the DVAC to register a FIR against the Chief Minister for a detailed probe.
In his complaint, DMK Organisational Secretary R S Bharati also cited the resignation of six sitting AIADMK MLAs out of which four had switched to TVK and the rest would be joining soon, and sought action against the Chief Minister.
He said the Supreme Court in Lalita Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh has unequivocally held that where information discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, registration of an FIR is mandatory. The law admits no exception based on the status or influence of the persons involved, including a Chief Minister. Any failure to register an FIR merely because the allegations concern influential political leaders or constitutional functionaries would erode the rule of law and violate the constitutional guarantee of equality before the law.
“I respectfully submit that the confession of Thiru. Vaiko prima facie reveals an attempt made by the Chief Minister to induce elected Members of the Legislative Assembly to resign from their constitutional office in exchange for political and electoral benefits, constituting an act of āhorse-trading,ā corruption and other offences that strike at the very foundation of democracy, the integrity of the electoral process and the constitutional scheme”, he said in the letter.
Having regard to the nature of the allegations involved which has become viral and captured both in social and print media and is documented in public domain, a constitutional duty lies on the Governor to order an enquiry, and the investigation should be impartial and secure public confidence. The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) should examine whether any public servant has abused their official position or attempted to confer any undue advantage, including, but not limited to, maintaining a majority in the house by ruling the TVK party and strategically reducing the number of opposition by adopting corrupt, unethical, and unconstitutional methods through horse trading, Bharathi said.
The issues raised herein transcend partisan politics and concern exclusively the integrity of democratic institutions, the sanctity of the electoral mandate and the rule of law. Above all, frequent elections are an affront to parliamentary democracy, a strain on the public exchequer, and a waste of government resources, he said and urged the Governor to direct the DVAC that a FIR be registered and conduct an impartial and comprehensive investigation in accordance with law to ascertain the truth and bring all persons found responsible to justice and bring to book the persons who indulge in corrupt practise of horse trading and oblige.
He also said the DVAC has to take the complaint on file given by me by virtue of the law laid down by the Supreme Court and register an FIR, conduct an impartial and comprehensive investigation in accordance with law to ascertain the truth andĀ bring all persons found responsible to justice and bring to book the persons who indulge in corrupt practise of horse trading.