TN MLA Disqualification case: Transfer sought to SC alleging likelihood of bias

Seventeen disqualified MLAs belonging to the TTV Dhinakaran faction of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) have moved the Supreme Court today seeking a transfer of the MLA disqualification case from the Madras High Court..The matter was mentioned before the vacation bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Sanjay Kishan Kaul by Senior Counsel Vikas Singh, who sought urgent hearing in the matter..The Bench agreed and listed the case for June 27..The Madras High Court had reserved judgement in January this year and eventually delivered a split verdict on June 14..Days after the split verdict, the second senior most judge of the Madras High Court Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh nominated Justice S Vimala to break the deadlock. In light of these developments, the MLAs have now chosen to move the Supreme Court..The grounds for filing this petition include the fact that the issue relating to mala fides of the Speaker remains pending. It is also the case of the petitioners that about six months have elapsed and the constituencies the MLAs in question were elected from remain unrepresented..Besides these reasons, the petitioners have apprehended a likelihood of bias, given that persons like the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister, the Speaker and other high functionaries are involved..The petitioners also have expressed reservations about the nomination of Justice S Vimala in the case, considering the fact that Justice Vimala’s daughter-in-law was recently appointed as a government advocate in the Madras High Court..The petitioners have therefore prayed for transfer of the case from the Madras High Court to the Supreme Court..In the interim, the petitioners have also prayed for a stay on further proceedings in the Madras High Court, as well as a stay on the orders passed by the Speaker of Tamil Nadu Assembly in September last year that effectively disqualified the petitioners.