Today(on 31st July), The Madras High Court has reinstated breach of privilege proceedings against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and 17 DMK MLAs for their 2017 Assembly protest involving banned gutkha. The court overturned a prior stay, emphasizing that the issues cannot be ignored due to a change in government.
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CHENNAI: Today(on 31st July), The Madras High Court has reignited the breach of privilege proceedings against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and 17 other DMK MLAs for their actions in the State Legislative Assembly back in 2017. The controversy stemmed from their protest against the availability of gutkha, during which they carried and displayed packets of the banned product inside the Assembly.
A Division Bench comprising Justices SM Subramaniam and C Kumarappan overturned a 2021 single-judge order that had previously stayed the notices and the ensuing proceedings. The Division Bench has referred the matter back to the Committee of Privileges and the Speaker, emphasizing that “issues such as breach of privilege cannot be washed away” merely because a new government had assumed power in the State.
The Division Bench remitted the matter back to the Privilege Committee and the Speaker, asserting that –
“Issues like breach of privilege cannot be dismissed or ignored.”
simply due to a change in the ruling government. This decision was made in response to a batch of 19 writ appeals filed by the then Legislative Assembly Secretary and the chairperson of the privileges committee in January 2021, who challenged the single-judge’s decision to quash the show-cause notices issued to the DMK MLAs.
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Earlier this month, Senior Counsel NR Elango, representing the DMK MLAs, explained to the Court that Stalin and the MLAs had displayed sachets of gutkha in the Legislative Assembly on July 19, 2017, to draw attention to the fact that the banned product was readily available even in small shops across the State. He emphasized that according to a Tamil Nadu Government Order, while the manufacturing, sale, and storage of gutkha were banned, possession of the product was not explicitly prohibited.
Elango also argued that the breach of privilege notices were politically motivated. He pointed out that the notices were not issued immediately after the incident in July 2017 but were delayed until August 28, 2017, suggesting they were an afterthought.
During the proceedings, the Division Bench questioned whether the Court could interfere with such breach of privilege notices and proceedings. In response, Advocate General PS Raman proposed that the matter be remitted to the Committee of Privileges. He noted that since the 15th Legislative Assembly was dissolved by the Governor in May 2021, all proceedings initiated during its tenure had lapsed unless they had reached finality. In this case, the single-judge had quashed the show-cause notices issued by the Privileges Committee to the MLAs, meaning the proceedings had not attained finality.
