Chennai, Sept 29:
The Madras High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation seeking recovery of the election expenses of six former AIADMK MLAs who resigned from their posts, imposing a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioner.
The six former MLAs — Maragatham Kumaravel of Maduranthakam, Sathyabama of Dharapuram, Isakki Subbaiya of Ambasamudram, Jayakumar of Perundurai, M.R. Vijayabaskar of Karur and C. Vijayabaskar of Viralimalai — had voted in favour of the TVK government despite the AIADMK whip. They resigned from their MLA posts between May 25 and June 29 and subsequently joined the TVK at the Secretariat.
Chennai-based advocate S. Kasi Ramalingam filed the PIL seeking directions to recover the election expenses from the six former MLAs. The petitioner alleged that they had not resigned on ideological grounds but had done so to secure possible benefits such as ministerial positions and an opportunity to contest again from the same constituencies, besides avoiding disqualification proceedings.
The petition also contended that holding by-elections within a few months of the Assembly elections would impose an additional financial burden on the government. It stated that thousands of teachers, government employees and police personnel would have to be deployed for election-related duties. The petitioner sought amendments to the Representation of the People Act to require MLAs who resign within a year to bear the expenses of the resulting by-election and to bar them from contesting elections or holding government posts until the amount was paid.
The plea sought a declaration that the resignations of the six former MLAs were not genuine and directions to deposit the by-election expenses with the Election Commission, besides restraining them from contesting by-elections until the expenses were paid. The case was heard by Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan. The judges pointed out that a similar petition filed by advocate Sudhan had already been dismissed on September 24.
CourtccThe bench warned that if the petitioner still wished to pursue arguments, the present case would be dismissed with costs. After the petitioner’s side continued its submissions, the court dismissed the PIL, observing that it had been filed for publicity, and imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh. The amount is to be paid to the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority within four weeks. The Registry was also directed to initiate steps for recovery of the amount if it is not paid within the stipulated period.