Supreme Court upholds TN Speaker’s decision to end disqualification proceedings against AIADMK MLA
The Supreme Court on Friday (October 9, 2026) refused to interfere with the Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker’s decision to close disqualification proceedings against a group of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) legislators who supported C Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in the May-led government during the trust vote. The court noted that the speaker’s decision could not be challenged by an “intruder”.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana dismissed the plea filed by advocate PV Selvakumar, observing that the sanctity of the constitutional mandate under the Tenth Schedule, which contains the anti-crossing law, must be preserved.
“We are fully with you that the sanctity of the constitutional mandate must be preserved. But we must understand the functioning of a democratic system,” the Bench said.
Mr. Selvakumar approached the Supreme Court after the Madras High Court dismissed his petition challenging the Speaker’s June 9 decision to end disqualification proceedings against AIADMK legislators.
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The chairman acted on the basis of a letter from the general secretary of the party dated May 27, requesting the withdrawal of the proceedings. The High Court ruled that Mr. Selvakumar, as a third party to the dispute, had no locus standi to interfere in the internal affairs of the AIADMK.
Advocate Nina Nariman, appearing for Mr. Selvakumar, argued that once the disqualification petition was taken up by the speaker, the proceedings should have been taken to a logical conclusion. Lawmakers defied the party whip by supporting the government in a confidence vote, she said.
However, the Bench distinguished between defection and differences that may arise within a political party in a multi-party democracy. “We have a multi-party system. It’s safe to say that I prefer Party C to be in power than Party B. If a party would make a request, we could appreciate it. But here you seem to be at best an opportunistic interloper or at best a conscientious person who subscribes to a minority philosophy,” it said.
She also said that the AIADMK itself has decided not to proceed against the legislators. “Also look at the burden. If one party does not muster up the courage and passes very poorly, if no one supports it, what will be the consequences? There will be another election… Once a political party excuses defection for a political purpose, it will be difficult for us to bind it with narrow legal terms,” the Bench said.
It further said that while the legislators may have voted against the party whip, allowing the government to survive the trust vote, they did not cease to be members of the AIADMK. The court subsequently dismissed the claim.
The High Court ruled in August that the AIADMK general secretary’s decision to condone the conduct of the 21 legislators ended the disqualification proceedings against them.
“When the General Secretary of the political party sent a letter dated 27 May 2026 to the Chairman justifying the act of the 21 members, the question of their disqualification either under paragraph 2(1)(a) or 2(1)(b) does not arise and the Chairman rightly waived the disqualification proceedings,” Division Bench of Chief Justice. Murugan held.
The controversy arose after 25 AIADMK legislators defied the party whip and supported the TVK government during the May 13 trust vote.
TVK, which secured 108 seats in the parliamentary elections, won the trust of 144 legislators in the 234-member chamber.
Published – 10 Oct 2026 0:32 IST