Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker Defends Acceptance of Dissident AIADMK MLAs' Resignations in Madras High Court

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar has informed the Madras High Court that the resignations of dissident AIADMK MLAs were accepted and notified only after he was satisfied about their “genuineness and voluntariness” through a “limited inquiry”. Prabhakar filed an affidavit before a bench comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan on Monday. The bench is hearing petitions filed by AIADMK Whip Agri SS Krishnamurthy challenging the acceptance of the resignations while disqualification proceedings were pending. Senior counsel KK Venugopal, appearing for the Speaker, said the affidavit was filed after the petitioner’s counsel raised the issue of the Speaker’s non-appearance. Prabhakar said, “I was satisfied that the resignations were genuine since upon questioning, they categorically stated their resignation letters were in their own handwriting.” He said the conduct and demeanour of the MLAs did not suggest that they were being coerced or forced to resign. The Speaker said he had conducted a “limited inquiry” into the genuineness and voluntariness of the resignations and found that the MLAs appeared to be speaking the truth and were not under pressure from those present when they submitted the resignations. “In these circumstances, there was no further inquiry necessary in my view. Therefore, after being duly satisfied with the voluntary and genuine nature of the resignations, I had decided to accept them,” he added.