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A petition has been filed successful the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into allegations of horse-trading involving the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) wide caput and four erstwhile members of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) who resigned from the Assembly and subsequently joined the ruling enactment successful Tamil Nadu, allegedly to facilitate the formation of the C. Joseph Vijay-led government successful the State.
The plea, filed by lawyer M. Srinivasan, seeks directions to the CBI to registry a lawsuit against TVK wide caput and Minister for Rural Development and Water Resources N. Anand, on with erstwhile AIADMK MLAs K. Maragatham Kumaravel (Maduranthakam), S. Jayakumar (Perundurai), P. Sathyabama (Dharapuram) and Esakki Subaya (Ambasamudram), who resigned from their Assembly seats earlier joining the TVK past month.
Following their resignations, the seats represented by the 5 legislators were declared vacant, with the vacancies subsequently notified successful the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette.
Plenary powers
Mr. Srinivasan has urged the apex tribunal to invoke its plenary powers nether Article 142 of the Constitution to framework circumstantial guidelines against post-election horse-trading involving legislators who person either been disqualified by the Speaker oregon resigned from the Assembly without immoderate “valid, worldly and justifiable reason”.
The tribunal has besides been urged to restrain the 4 erstwhile AIADMK MLAs from contesting the ensuing byelections, either arsenic autarkic candidates oregon with the enactment of immoderate governmental party, until due guidelines are framed by the court.
“Issue a writ of mandamus oregon immoderate different due writ, bid oregon absorption thereby directing Respondent No. 3 (Central Bureau of Investigation) to registry a lawsuit against Respondent Nos. 7 to 11 for allegedly indulging successful horse-trading to unafraid a bulk successful the Tamil Nadu Assembly and further nonstop an probe and submission of the last study wrong a time-frame fixed by this court,” the plea states.
There has been an exodus of salient determination faces from the AIADMK to the TVK pursuing actor-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay taking implicit arsenic Chief Minister of the State. The Opposition has repeatedly alleged horse-trading, allegations that person been rejected by the ruling party.
On May 13, the TVK authorities survived a spot vote successful the Tamil Nadu Assembly with the enactment of 25 rebel AIADMK MLAs amid a walkout by the DMK. Although the enactment did not bid a bulk connected its ain successful the 234-member House, it secured the backing of the Congress, VCK, CPI, CPI(M) and IUML, enabling it to transverse the halfway people and clasp power.
On Tuesday (June 9, 2026), Tamil Nadu Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar announced that helium had dropped further proceedings against 21 of the 25 rebel AIADMK MLAs who voted successful favour of the C. Joseph Vijay-led authorities during the May 13 spot vote. The determination came aft AIADMK wide caput Edappadi K. Palaniswami wrote to the Speaker, done 4 abstracted letters, condoning the legislators’ behaviour contempt their having voted contrary to the enactment whip.
