Relief for CM Palaniswami, Madras HC asks DMK to produce evidence on TN assembly ruckus

Chennai: In a relief to Chief Minister EK Palaniswami, the Madras High Court adjourned the DMK petition challenging the trust vote in the Tamil Nadu assembly till Monday and asked the party to produce evidence of ruckus that took place during the no-confidence motion in the House.

Advocate K Balu told the court that "AIADMK MLAs were kept at Golden Bay resort for 11 days and that many had filed a complaint about being caged". 

Have proof that AIADMK MLAs were kept at Golden Bay resort for 11 days& also that many filed complaint about being caged: Advocate K. Balu pic.twitter.com/auese3hvGi — ANI (@ANI_news) February 22, 2017

After hearing the petition, the court adjourned the matter till Monday and directed the petitioner to submit video evidence of the adoption of confidence motion. 

On the other hand, DMK Working President MK Stalin along with several party leaders is staging a hunger strike protest in Tiruchi to protest against the forceful eviction and manhandling of party MLAs by Speaker P Dhanapal during the trust vote in Tamil Nadu assembly on February 18.

The decision to sit on a hunger strike came after a special meeting of MLAs was convened by Stalin at the party headquarters in Chennai on Sunday. 

The meeting was held after police filed an FIR against members of the party for holding a protest on Marina Beach the previous day. The police said the FIR was filed for unlawful assembly and violation of public order.

Palanisamy had won the trust vote 122-11 in the 234-member Assembly, aided by the eviction of DMK and walkout by its allies last Saturday.

DMK has 89 MLAs in the Assembly. 

The division vote was taken up after two adjournments following uproarious scenes as opposition MLAs insisted on a secret vote, which was rejected by Speaker P Dhanapal.

Earlier, the DMK moved a no-confidence motion against the Assembly Speaker, with the party`s working president and leader of opposition in the Assembly, MK Stalin accusing the Speaker of deliberately harping on his community to malign the party.