NEW DELHI: Hours before the crucial floor test for the TVK government in Tamil Nadu, which holds a wafer-thin majority in the assembly, the Vijay-led government received a boost as the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed its MLA Srinivasa Sethupathi to participate in the floor test. The court termed the Madras High Court order barring him from assembly proceedings as "atrocious to say the least."
Supreme Court's Observations
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and Vijay Bishnoi stayed the Madras High Court order against Sethupathi, who had won from the Tirupattur constituency by a single vote. "This (HC order) is atrocious to say the least. HC says remedy is election petition and still entertains the writ petition," the bench observed at the beginning of the hearing.
Plea by Senior Advocate
The Supreme Court accepted the plea of senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi that the court must intervene to allow the MLA to participate in the floor test. Singhvi argued that strong strictures needed to be passed against the High Court for issuing such an order.
"In the meantime, the effect and operation of the impugned order shall remain stayed, and further proceedings before the high court in the pending writ petition shall also remain stayed," the bench said.
Petitioner's Argument
Sethupathi approached the Supreme Court through advocate Yash S. Vijay, submitting that the High Court had committed a very grave error in law by disregarding settled and binding precedents while passing sweeping and far-reaching directions in a writ petition. "Seventy-five years of constitutional jurisprudence have held steadfast that the species of legal challenges calling into question an election to the state legislative assembly or the Parliament are a special class of disputes falling within a self-governed complete code under Article 324 to Article 329 of the Constitution," the petition stated.
The floor test is critical for the TVK government's survival, and Sethupathi's participation could prove decisive in the vote of confidence.
