Two days after 79 DMK MLAs were suspended from the Assembly for a week, the party on Friday approached the Madras High Court challenging the Speaker’s powers to unilaterally suspend legislators. (The suspension of another MLA was revoked on Friday as he was not present in the House on Wednesday.)
When the First Bench of Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice R. Mahadevan commenced proceedings on Friday morning, senior counsel Mohan Parasaran and N.R. Elango, appearing for the DMK, made a mention of the issue and sought an urgent hearing. However, the Bench said the issue could be taken up for hearing on Monday if a proper petition is filed and numbered with the registry.
Acceding to the court’s suggestion, the party’s treasurer and opposition leader M.K. Stalin filed an affidavit in which he prayed the court to declare Rule 121 of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Rule, which empowers the Speaker to impose “the grave punishment of suspension” without providing any opportunity of hearing to the member/members as illegal, ultra vires and unconstitutional.
“The action of suspending the entire opposition in a legislative body is not merely without precedent in the history of parliamentary democracy but is also an anathema to the same. Such an action is opposed to the fundamental notions of parliamentary and constitutional convention and is plainly unconstitutional,” the petition said.
Alleging that the actions of the Tamil Nadu Speaker constitute a “naked affront” to the principles of democracy which is part of the basic structure of the Constitution, the petitioner said, “As a result of the calculated actions, the representatives of about 35 percent of the people of Tamil Nadu have been left unable to participate in legislative proceedings.”
Stating that the resolution to suspend the MLAs has purportedly been passed under Rule 121 of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Rules, Mr. Stalin said, “Rule 121 is ex-facie unconstitutional as it provides for the grave punishment of suspension without any opportunity of hearing to the member in question. It is not saved by the doctrine of necessity… Hence, the same is clearly beyond the scope of Article 194 (Powers and Privileges of the House of Legislatures) of the Constitution of India.”
As an interim relief, Mr. Stalin prayed the court to stay the operation of the resolution dated August 17 issued by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and all proceedings and action taken pursuant thereto. The petitioner also sought the court to direct the Speaker to permit the suspended MLAs to attend and participate in the present assembly session.
