Chennai, Sept 2:
The Madras High Court on Tuesday reserved its orders on a petition filed by the AIADMK challenging Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar’s decision to accept the resignations of party MLAs who subsequently joined the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
A First Bench comprising Chief Justice S.A. Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan reserved the orders after hearing detailed arguments from AIADMK whip Agri S.S. Krishnamurthy, the Assembly Speaker, the Legislative Assembly Secretary and the MLAs concerned.
The dispute concerns six AIADMK MLAs who resigned from the Assembly after the 2026 elections and subsequently joined the TVK. The AIADMK has challenged the Speaker’s decision to accept their resignations, arguing that the circumstances surrounding the resignations and their conduct after the election required scrutiny.
The Speaker, however, has maintained that the resignations were voluntary and that he had conducted an inquiry before accepting them. He told the court that he was constitutionally bound to accept a resignation once satisfied that it was made voluntarily.
The issue has wider political significance as the resignations resulted in several Assembly constituencies being declared vacant, paving the way for by-elections. The AIADMK has also sought judicial intervention in connection with the proposed bypolls.
During the hearing, the Speaker’s side argued that an elected representative could not be compelled to continue in office after voluntarily tendering a resignation.
The court, after hearing the elaborate arguments, reserved its order without specifying a date.