Madras HC verdict on AIADMK MLAs LIVE updates: The Madras High Court on Thursday upheld the Speaker's decision to disqualify the 18 rebel AIADMK MLAs.
'Democracy must be safeguarded, elections should be held soon', says MK Stalin
Reacting to the HC verdict, DMK chief MK Stalin said, "Democracy must be safeguarded. Already two assembly constituencies are vacant, now with Madras HC verdict, 18 seats have fallen vacant. Therefore, the Election Commission should take steps immediately to fill them."
'No infirmity in Speaker's decision' observes the third judge Justice Sathyanarayanan
While delivering the verdict, Justice Sathyanarayanan said that there was no infirmity in the order of the Speaker P Dhanapal, which was upheld earlier. "All the material that was available at the time of the passing of the order by the Speaker alone have been taken into consideration and this court cannot go into the subsequent events," he observed while upholding their disqualification, The Indian Express reported.
MLAs likely to remain holed up in a resort in Courtallam until the verdict comes out
According to several media reports, the rebel MLAs barring P Vetrivel are likely to remain holed up at a resort in Courtallam until the verdict comes out. The decision to shift the disqualified legislators came just hours after TTV Dhinakaran met Sasikala at the Bengaluru prison amid reports that the E Palanisami and O Panneerselvam government is trying to poach the MLAs loyal to Dhinakaran.
However, K Vetrivel - one of the disqualified legislators told NDTV, "Our members took a holy dip in River Thamarabarani as part of the Puskaram. That's why they are staying together in the resort."
More AIADMK MLAs pledge support to TTV Dinakaran
Four more MLAs who contested for the AIADMK have also pledged their support to TTV Dhinakaran. One of them, Karunas, had sent a notice to the secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Legislative Assembly, seeking the removal of Speaker P Dhanapal, News18 reported.
'Democracy must be safeguarded, elections should be held soon', says MK Stalin
Reacting to the HC verdict, DMK chief MK Stalin said, "Democracy must be safeguarded. Already two assembly constituencies are vacant, now with Madras HC verdict, 18 seats have fallen vacant. Therefore, the Election Commission should take steps immediately to fill them."
AIADMK workers celebrate across the state
Celebrations by AIADMK cadre have broken out in various parts of Chennai and the rest of the state. Many areas witnessed the cadre bursting firecrackers and distributing sweets among the general public. Celebrations also erupted near at the Anna statue near Salem old bus stand.
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E Madhusudanan, who lost from TTV Dhinakaran in RK Nagar bypolls, is happy with the HC verdict
E Madhusudanan, the AIADMK candidate who went against TTV Dhinakaran during the RK Nagar bypoll, has said that the verdict has delivered happiness to everyone. He said that was now time to take forward the party created by MGR and protected by Amma.
Madhusudanan had lost the RK Nagar, J Jayalalitha's constituency, by a huge margin to Dhinakaran almost a year ago.
Input by Mydeen Abdul Kadar/101Reporters
AIADMK ministers celebrate Madras HC verdict
Senior AIADMK ministers celebrated the HC verdict along with chief minister and the deputy chief minister. Meanwhile, Palaniswami has said that if the Election Commission decides to conduct by-elections in these seats based on the court's verdict, AIADMK will contest and win in all of them.
Image courtesy: K Dhanabalan/101Reporters
MLAs at Kutralam are there to wash their sin off at the Pushkara festival: Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan
Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan has said that the court's decision is not particularly surprising. "This verdict should have come much earlier. Still, we hope that everyone will accept the court's decision. The MLAs currently at Kutralam are probably there to wash their sin off at the Pushkara festival," he said.
Input by K Dhanabalan/101Reporters
13 MLAs present at the resort, more expected to reach soon
There are now 13 MLAs present at the Esakki High View Resort owned by AIADMK MLA Esakki Subbaiah. The rest are expected to arrive soon, including dismissed Vilathikulam MLA Uma Maheswari who is on her way. Further 3 serving MLAs who have expressed their support for TTV have also arrived at the resort, taking the total to 16.
Input by Mydeen Abdul Kadar/101Reporters
We will contest in all 18 constituencies and win, says EPS
We will contest in all 18 constituencies and we will win. We are ready to face general elections also as we are the third largest party in the Parliament but this verdict does not have a bearing on the general elections, chief minister E Palaniswami said.
Justice Sathyanarayanan didn't take into consideration previous judgments: MLAs' lawyer
Advocate Raja Senthoor Pandian, who has been fighting the case on behalf of the 18 disqualified MLAs, has expressed disappointment at the High Court's decision. He said it was believed that Justice Sathyanarayanan would take into consideration the two previous judgments in this case where the verdict was split. The defenders were only asked to only present new arguments. However, today, while delivering the verdict, the judge said that his decision is independent of the previous proceedings. If we had known this earlier, we would have presented our arguments differently, Pandian said.
Pandian also said that there are now three options before them: To challenge the verdict before the Supreme Court; to face by-elections; or face by-elections while moving the SC. "Our legal battle will continue as per the decision of the disqualified MLAs," he said.
Input by K Dhanabalan/101Reporters
In pics: AIADMK supporters celebrate after the Madras High Court verdict
Chennai: AIADMK supporters celebrate after Madras High Court upholds disqualification of 18 rebel AIADMK MLAs. #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/8bgyAlR3fM
— ANI (@ANI) October 25, 2018
Madras HC verdict on AIADMK MLAs LATEST updates: The Madras High Court on Thursday upheld the Speaker's decision to disqualify the 18 rebel AIADMK MLAs.
TTV Dhinakaran told the media that he was expecting a favourable decision but now the final decision will be taken after consultations with the 18 MLAs and the future course of action will be decided soon. Meanwhile, the AIADMK official handle tweeted that the Madras HC verdict has taught the correct lesson to its traitors and that democracy has won.
The rebel ministers, supporting the Sasikala-Dhinakaran faction, were disqualified by P Dhanapal, the Speaker of the House, under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution (known as the anti-defection law) after they expressed lack of confidence in chief minister E Palaniswami. The ministers later moved a petition in the High Court challenging the Speaker’s decision following which the court restrained the Election Commission from declaring their seats vacant.
File image of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi k Palaniswamy. PTI
Justice M Sathyanarayanan is set to deliver the verdict at 10.30am on Thursday. The case was listed for judgment late on Wednesday night. Justice Sathyanarayanan was named the third judge by the Supreme Court, after the then first bench of Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar had delivered a split verdict on 14 June. He had reserved his orders on 31 August, after 12 days of a meticulous hearing.
The verdict is being watched closely in political circles in the state since it has the potential to decide the future course of Tamil Nadu politics. If the verdict upholds the disqualification, by-elections will be held on all the seats that would be vacant and it would be a litmus test for the AIADMK government, whose popularity has been on the decline since the demise of its former leader J Jayalalithaa, as evidenced by the result of the RK Nagar bypoll in 2017. However, if the Speaker’s decision to disqualify the MLAs is reversed, the EPS government would plunge into a minority and it would have to face a floor test in the Assembly.
In fact, recently four more MLAs who contested on the AIADMK ticket have also pledged their support to TTV Dhinakaran. One of them, Karunas, had sent a notice to the secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Legislative Assembly, seeking the removal of Speaker P Dhanapal. Meanwhile, AMMK chief Dhinakaran has instructed all but one of the 18 disqualified MLAs in his camp to move to a resort near the Tirunelveli district.
According to a News18 report, all the rebel MLAs barring P Vetrivel are likely to remain holed up at a resort in Courtallam until the verdict comes out. The decision to shift the disqualified legislators came just hours after Dhinakaran met Sasikala at Bengaluru prison amid reports that the E Palanisami and O Panneerselvam government is trying to poach the MLAs loyal to Dhinakaran.
The victim belonged to a Most Backward Community, while one of the other students was a Dalit and two of his classmates were from another religion
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said elements propagating hatred are being closely monitored
As rescue operations continued for several hours, information on the condition of those trapped in the rubble remained unclear
