Chennai, October 13, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Madras High Court has upheld the Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker’s decision to accept the resignations of six AIADMK legislators who supported the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government during a confidence vote and later joined the ruling party. However, the court has made it clear that the pending disqualification proceedings against the former legislators must continue.
Dismissing a petition filed by AIADMK whip Agri S. Krishnamurthy and others, the court ruled that pending disqualification proceedings did not prevent the Speaker from accepting the resignations or declaring the legislators’ Assembly seats vacant.
A first bench comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan held that the resignations were genuine and voluntary, making the Speaker’s decision and the resulting vacancies constitutionally valid.
The bench observed that once the voluntary nature and genuineness of the resignations had been established, the Speaker was not required to conduct an extensive inquiry into the alleged motives behind them.
The dispute centred on whether the Speaker could accept the resignations while petitions seeking the legislators’ disqualification under the anti-defection provisions remained pending. The six MLAs had voted in favour of the TVK government during a confidence motion before joining the ruling party.
Rejecting the argument that the pending proceedings barred acceptance of the resignations, the court held that resignation and disqualification were distinct constitutional processes. The Speaker could therefore act on the resignations without waiting for the disqualification cases to be decided.
However, the bench stressed that the acceptance of the resignations did not render the pending disqualification proceedings academic or infructuous. It directed the Speaker to adjudicate the cases, with the outcome carrying the consequences prescribed under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
The court also reiterated that the High Court could exercise its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution if the Speaker failed to decide disqualification proceedings within a reasonable period.
With the petition dismissed, the acceptance of the six resignations remains valid. The question of whether the former legislators attracted disqualification under the anti-defection provisions remains to be decided separately.
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