The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Tamil Nadu Speaker P. Dhanpal to inform it by February 14 the time by which he would decide on the disqualification application filed by the DMK against deputy chief minister O. Panneerselvam and 10 other MLAs under the anti-defection law.
A bench of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justices Bhushan Gavai and Surya Kant passed the direction while taking the prima facie view that the Speaker was bound by a recent three-judge bench directive that any such decisions must be taken within three months.
The court noted that the Tamil Nadu Speaker had not taken a decision for over three years.
At the same time the CJI agreed with senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Panneerselvam, that the disqualification petition had become “infructuous” since the AIADMK factions headed by chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami and Panneerselvam had merged.
