Chennai: Deputy Chief Minister O.Paneerselvam and 10 other MLAs informed the Madras High Court on Wednesday that the whip was issued only to 122 AIADMK MLAs and not to them when the vote of confidence was moved in the Assembly on February 18, 2017.
They made this submission when the petition filed by DMK whip Sakkarapani, seeking to disqualify OPS and 10 other MLAs came up for hearing before the first bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose.
The DMK, had on February 13, furnished proof showing that OPS himself had told the Election Commission of India that they had voted against government despite the whip.
Disputing the claim of the petitioner and four disqualified MLAs of the TTV Dhinakaran faction that OPS and 10 other legislators had defied the whip when they had voted against Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisami, their senior counsel C.S. Vaidyanathan said that OPS and the other MLAs did not deny the fact that there was a whip, but this was not issued to them, only to the 122 MLAs in Koovathur.
Pointing out that there cannot be a selective whip issued under the party seal, senior counsel P.S. Raman, appearing for four disqualified MLAs of the TTV Dhinakaran faction, said that in the counter affidavit filed in the DMK’s plea, OPS and others had claimed that they had not defied the whip. But, now they claim that the whip was issued only to 122 MLAs and not to them.
Senior counsel Vaidyanathan said that a decision of the Speaker can be subject to judicial review as per the principles laid down by the Supreme Court. How
ever, the Speaker in the present case, was yet to take a decision on the petition before him seeking disqualification of OPS and 10 other MLAs.
