Six DMDK MLAs have moved the Madras High Court, challenging the Speaker's order suspending them from Tamil Nadu Assembly for six months on a privilege issue, contending that the action was taken without issuing any notice to them.
When the petitions by party whip V C Chandra Kumar and five others came up for hearing today before Justice S Rajeswaran, counsel for the petitioners K M Vijayan and Advocate General A L Somayaji appeared for the Secretary of the the Assembly.
Since nobody represented the Assembly Speaker, the second respondent in the petition, private notice had to be served by the counsel for the petitioners, the judge said and posted the matter for further hearing to April 16.
Vijayan submitted that none of the petitioners were issued notices of the alleged breach of privilege by the Privilege Committee before making an inquiry and submitting a report under Rule 229 of the state Assembly Rules.
It was the well established principles of law that judicial review of privilege proceedings was available for non-compliance of natural justice principle.
No MLA could be suspended for a period of more than 60 days. Otherwise, he would automatically become disqualified to be a member of the House, he argued.
The punishment of one year passed on March 25 could not be modified to that of six months the very next day, Vijayan contended and sought to declare all the proceedings of the privilege committee of the Assembly culminating in the suspension as unconstitutional.
The MLAs were suspended for allegedly assaulting C Michael Rayappan, one of the four DMDK MLAs who had called on Chief Minister Jayalalithaa last year much to the chagrin of the party high command, during a debate in the assembly in February.
