Madras High Court Upholds Speaker’s Acceptance of Resignations of AIADMK MLAs Who Joined TVK

The Madras High Court on Tuesday upheld the decision of Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar to accept the resignations of six AIADMK legislators who quit the party after the Assembly elections and joined Chief Minister Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).

The cases concerned Maragatham Kumaravel, P Sathyabhama, Isakki Subbaiah, Jayakumar, MR Vijayabhaskar and C Vijayabhaskar.

A bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan held that the resignations were genuine. The court said the Speaker was not expected to conduct a detailed enquiry into the resignation process.

The bench also made it clear that the resignations would not bar disqualification proceedings against the MLAs. It directed the Speaker to complete those proceedings within two months.

THE CHALLENGE

The petitions were filed by AIADMK whip Agri Krishnamurthy and National People’s Power Party leader Ravi. They sought to quash the orders accepting the resignations.

They argued that the Speaker acted without a meaningful inquiry, while disqualification proceedings were pending over claims that the MLAs had voted for the TVK government against the party whip. They also referred to a complaint to the Governor alleging horse-trading.

The MLAs argued that resigning and joining another party is part of democratic politics. Counsel for the Assembly Secretary and the Speaker said the resignations were voluntary and that the Speaker could not refuse to accept them.

Senior Advocate CS Vaidyanathan argued that the Speaker only had to check that a resignation was genuine, not examine the member’s motive.

TWO LEGISLATORS RETURNED ON TVK TICKETS

By-elections were held in Maduranthakam and Dharapuram after Maragatham Kumaravel and Sathyabhama resigned from the Assembly and joined Chief Minister Joseph Vijay’s TVK.

Both contested under TVK’s whistle symbol and retained their seats. According to the Election Commission, Sathyabhama secured 66,841 votes in Dharapuram, while Maragatham Kumaravel won Maduranthakam.

Vijay described the results as a victory for democratic values and a rejection of money-power politics.

In a post on X, he claimed the party had won without paying voters or using coercive campaign practices, contrasting its approach with what he called the “Thirumangalam or Erode East formula."

The High Court’s ruling will address the challenge to the Speaker’s acceptance of the six resignations.

With inputs from ANI