Supreme Court Stays Madras High Court Order, Allows TVK MLA R Seenivasa Sethupathi to Participate in Floor Test

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed a Madras High Court order restraining T VK MLA R Seenivasa Sethupathi from participating in the floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi also stayed the proceedings pending before the high court in the matter. “This is atrocious to say the least. The high court says the remedy is election petition but still entertains the Article 226 petition,” the bench observed while hearing Sethupathi’s plea. Article 226 of the Constitution deals with the powers of high courts to issue certain writs. Sethupathi, representing the C Joseph Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), had challenged the interim order of the high court restraining him from voting or participating in any floor test , confidence motion, no-confidence motion, trust vote or proceedings testing the numerical strength of the House, pending further orders. The apex court granted two weeks to DMK leader and former minister K R Periakaruppan and other respondents to file their counter affidavits. Sethupathi had won from the Tiruppattur Assembly constituency in Sivagangai district by a margin of a single vote against Periakaruppan. The TVK government on Wednesday won the vote of confidence. (With inputs from PTI)