The Madras High Court has declined to pass an interim order annulling the trust vote won by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami in the Assembly. The case which was filed by DMK Working President MK Stalin has been adjourned till February 27.
The DMK contested the legality of the motion and the eviction of its members from the Assembly on Saturday ahead of the trust vote. The case was filed by the opposition party on Monday.
DMK spokesperson and lawyer Saravanan had told The News Minute that, "The vote of confidence in Assembly on Saturday is a nullity because the resolution was introduced twice. In addition to this, the DMK leaders were illegally evicted from the Assembly."
The court had now ordered for the submission of the video footage of the proceedings in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on February 18. The edited video clips released by the state government and which were aired on several television channels, show the DMK MLAs disrupting the Assembly. They allegedly damaged tables, mics and chairs, leading to their eviction.
In retaliation against the trust vote and their eviction, the DMK further organised hunger strikes across the state on Wednesday.
Stalin, in his petition, also sought that the court issue directions to assembly Speaker P Dhanapal to hold the trust vote with a secret ballot under a monitoring committee comprising the Governor's Secretary, Chief Secretary and a senior official from the Election Commission.