New Delhi, May 13 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Madras High Court order that had restrained TVK MLA R Sreenivasa Sethupathi from participating in the floor test in the Tamil Nadu assembly, saying such a directive under writ jurisdiction was "atrocious".
The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government in Tamil Nadu crossed the major hurdle on Wednesday, winning a confidence-boosting trust vote by a 144:22 margin amid a walkout by the principal opposition party DMK and a divided AIADMK whose one faction supported the C Joseph Vijay-led government.
"This is atrocious to say the least. The high court says the remedy is election petition but still entertains the Article 226 petition," a bench of justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi observed while hearing the plea.
Article 226 of the Constitution empowers high courts to issue writs of various nature to do complete justice. However, any order with regard to cancellation of an elected candidate can only be passed on an election petition filed by defeated candidate or a related party.
While issuing notice on Sethupathi's plea challenging the high court's May 12 interim order, the apex court also stayed the proceedings pending before the high court in the matter.
"In the meantime, the effect and operation of the impugned order shall remain stayed and further proceedings before the high court in pending writ petition shall also remain stayed," the top court said.
Sethupathi had won the No.185 Tiruppattur assembly constituency in Sivagangai district by a margin of a single vote against Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and former minister KR Periakaruppan. mpost
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.