Disqualification of T.N. MLAs upheld
CHENNAI, OCTOBER 26, 2018 00:00 IST
Assembly Speaker’s decision on 18 legislators is not mala fide, says third judge of Madras High Court
Justice M. Sathyanarayanan, the Supreme Court-appointed third judge of the Madras High Court, on Thursday upheld the validity of an order passed by Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal on September 18, 2017, disqualifying 18 AIADMK MLAs owing allegiance to T.T.V. Dhinakaran under the anti-defection law.
Deciding the case afresh at the request of counsel for the litigants, following a split verdict on June 14, Justice Sathyanarayanan categorically held that the Speaker’s order did not suffer from any of the grounds of attack, be it breach of constitutional mandate,mala fideintentions, perversity or non-adherence to principles of natural justice.
In a split verdict, then Chief Justice Indira Banerjee (now a Supreme Court judge) had upheld the Speaker’s order while her companion judge, Justice M. Sundar, had set it aside on multiple grounds, includingmala fide, perversity and non-adherence to the principles of natural justice.
Justice Sathyanarayanan’s verdict upheld Justice Banerjee’s orders, saying the disqualified MLAs had failed to prove their allegations of the Speaker passing the order with ulterior motives.
“Burden of proving absence of good faith is upon the person who pleads and asserts it. Proof of mala fides is a heavy burden to discharge. A mere suspicion, however, is not proof... The Speaker being the sole and ultimate authority to decide the issue pertaining to disqualification...mala fidescannot ordinarily be inferred,” the judge said.
Explaining his standpoint, Justice Sathyanarayanan said: “This court, also taking into consideration the high office of the Speaker and powers conferred on him under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) to the Constitution, cannot draw such an inference on the basis of conjectures and surmises.”
CHENNAI, OCTOBER 26, 2018 00:00 IST
Assembly Speaker’s decision on 18 legislators is not mala fide, says third judge of Madras High Court
Justice M. Sathyanarayanan, the Supreme Court-appointed third judge of the Madras High Court, on Thursday upheld the validity of an order passed by Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal on September 18, 2017, disqualifying 18 AIADMK MLAs owing allegiance to T.T.V. Dhinakaran under the anti-defection law.
Deciding the case afresh at the request of counsel for the litigants, following a split verdict on June 14, Justice Sathyanarayanan categorically held that the Speaker’s order did not suffer from any of the grounds of attack, be it breach of constitutional mandate,mala fideintentions, perversity or non-adherence to principles of natural justice.
In a split verdict, then Chief Justice Indira Banerjee (now a Supreme Court judge) had upheld the Speaker’s order while her companion judge, Justice M. Sundar, had set it aside on multiple grounds, includingmala fide, perversity and non-adherence to the principles of natural justice.
Justice Sathyanarayanan’s verdict upheld Justice Banerjee’s orders, saying the disqualified MLAs had failed to prove their allegations of the Speaker passing the order with ulterior motives.
“Burden of proving absence of good faith is upon the person who pleads and asserts it. Proof of mala fides is a heavy burden to discharge. A mere suspicion, however, is not proof... The Speaker being the sole and ultimate authority to decide the issue pertaining to disqualification...mala fidescannot ordinarily be inferred,” the judge said.
Explaining his standpoint, Justice Sathyanarayanan said: “This court, also taking into consideration the high office of the Speaker and powers conferred on him under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) to the Constitution, cannot draw such an inference on the basis of conjectures and surmises.”
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