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Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar has summoned All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), along with four former AIADMK MLAs who resigned from the Assembly and later joined the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), for a fresh round of hearings on July 30.
The Speaker has decided to conduct fresh personal hearings before taking a final call on whether the resignations were voluntary and genuine, as required under Article 190 (3)(b) of the Constitution and Rule 7(7) of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1986.
According to notices issued by Assembly Secretary R Shanthi on July 24, the four former legislators — P Sathyabama, S Jayakumar, K Maragatham Kumaravel, and Esakki Subbaiah — have been asked to appear before the Speaker between 11 am to 12.30 pm.
EPS has also been directed to appear before the Speaker during the proceedings to present his explanation.
The latest round of hearings follows representations submitted by Palaniswami on July 17 and July 21, as well as earlier proceedings initiated by the Assembly Secretariat on July 6 and July 16.
After submitting their resignation, Esakki Subbaiah appeared before the Speaker on July 3. The remaining three former MLAs appeared before him on July 9 and recorded their statements.
However, after examining the subsequent representations and records, the Speaker decided that further personal hearings were necessary before arriving at a decision.
The proceedings stem from a disqualification petition filed by Palaniswami after 25 AIADMK MLAs voted in favour of the Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay led TVK government during the Assembly trust vote, defying the party whip.
Subsequently, Palaniswami accepted the explanation of 21 legislators, while continuing to pursue disqualification proceedings against four MLAs — P Sathyabama, S Jayakumar, K Maragatham Kumaravel, and Esakki Subbaiah.