Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal’s decision to disqualify 18 AIADMK MLAs has evoked a mixed reaction from former Speakers of the Assembly.
While Sedappati R. Muthiah and R. Avudaiappan, both belonging to the DMK, say the action cannot be justified under the anti-defection law, P. H. Pandian, who is part of the ruling camp in the AIADMK (Amma, Puratchi Thalaivi Amma), asserts that the Speaker is the “sole authority”, and the law is a “self-explanatory code, requiring no explanation.”
Mr. Avudaiappan, who served as the Assembly Speaker during 2006-11, described the original demand by the rebel MLAs for a change of leadership in the AIADMK legislature party as an “inner party issue” and contended that the case at hand does not fall under either of the two broad conditions for disqualification — voluntarily giving up membership of a party on which he or she is elected, or conducting oneself in violation of any direction issued by the party concerned. So, the Speaker’s action is “against the law.”
Mr. Muthiah, who was the Assembly Speaker when the AIADMK was in power during 1991-96, and had subsequently joined the DMK, felt that “the principle of natural justice” should have been followed, by giving enough opportunities to the MLAs to submit their explanations.
It is on this aspect that courts of law invariably interfere with decisions of presiding officers, even though the jurisdiction of the courts is barred in any matter connected with disqualification.
Scope of powers
He recalled that when he was the presiding officer, G. Viswanathan and Alagu Thiruvavukkarasu were disqualified in April 1995 for having joined the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) after getting expelled from the AIADMK. The two MLAs were given over a month’s time to explain their position.
However, Mr. Pandian, widely known for his observation during his tenure (1985-89) that the Speaker had “sky-high powers”, emphasised that the presiding officer has the authority to intervene even in respect of actions of legislators taking place outside the floor of the Assembly.
“If a legislator conducts himself or herself [in a manner that is] unbecoming of an MLA, the Speaker can take action. If he or she is trying to pull down a duly-constituted government using methods other than those known to the Constitution, such an action amounts to sedition, which is a criminal offence,” he added.
Mr. Pandian noted how the Supreme Court, in January 2007, upheld the Parliament’s decision to terminate the membership of 11 MPs in December 2005 on the ground of “involvement in the cash for query scam.”
