Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar’s decision marks a return to the experience of 11 AIADMK MLAs in 2017-18

Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar has decided not to proceed with the disqualification case against 21 AIADMK MLAs. | Photo credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM

Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar’s decision not to pursue the disqualification case against 21 AIADMK legislators appears to be a throwback to the treatment meted out to 11 party MLAs eight years ago.

As in this case, legislators facing the prospect of disqualification in 2017 were spared the proceedings as the then Speaker P. Dhanapal did not go after them. However, there were two differences. No such announcement was made then. Moreover, the matter reached the Madras High Court, which dismissed the case against the legislators.

A movement of trust

On 18 February 2017, the then Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami moved a motion of confidence in the Assembly. Eleven MLAs from his party, including former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and former ministers S. Semmalai and K. Pandiarajan, voted against the motion. Although a whip was said to have been issued on the trust motion and petitions were filed against Mr. Dhanapal about a month later, there was no further action on his part. Meanwhile, the Election Commission has frozen the name and symbol of the AIADMK. Five months later, the camps of Mr. Palaniswami and Mr. Panneerselvam came together and buried their differences. Subsequently, the united formation was recognized as the AIADMK and given the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol.

On 22 August 2017, legislators out of loyalty to AIADMK rebel leader TTV Dhinakaran sent letters to Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, “withdrew his support” to Mr. Palaniswami. On September 18, the Speaker disqualified 18 lawmakers on the grounds that by their actions they had “voluntarily” renounced their membership of the party they belonged to.

A week later, DMK whip R. Sakkarapani approached the court seeking a direction to the Speaker to initiate disqualification proceedings against Mr. Panneerselvam and other AIADMK MLAs. In April 2018, the High Court dismissed the claim on the grounds that it would not be appropriate for the court to issue such a direction, as the Supreme Court had taken up the wider constitutional question of the courts’ power to issue such an order. And neither case challenged any action by the speaker.

Petition against the speaker

When the DMK filed another petition alleging inaction on the part of the Speaker regarding the declarations given to him to disqualify the MLA, a Bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhos said, “Issue of such orders would amount not only to judicial overreach but also gross violation of judicial discipline, if not contempt.”

When the Dravidian party amended its prayer to demand that the court disqualify the MLA without directing the Speaker to do so, the Bench said that even such an order could not be granted as it would amount to usurpation of the Speaker’s powers.

Appeal to the Supreme Court

Even though the DMK filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, it did not secure the relief sought. The matter died down in due course and Assembly elections were held in May 2021, rendering it fruitless.

Published – 09 Jun 2026 22:53 IST