A petition before the Supreme Court of India sought a court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation probe into alleged corruption and horse-trading during Vijay’s Tamil Nadu Assembly trust vote, with petitioner K K Ramesh claiming the floor test violated democratic principles.
A petition was filed before the Supreme Court of India seeking a court-monitored investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into allegations of corruption and horse-trading during the trust vote won by Vijay in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
The plea has been filed by Madurai resident K K Ramesh, who has alleged that the floor test conducted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly was not carried out in accordance with democratic principles.
Chief Minister Vijay had won the trust vote in the Assembly on May 13 with 144 votes in favour and 22 votes against.
According to the petition, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) had secured only 108 seats in the Assembly elections but subsequently managed to obtain support from legislators belonging to other political parties before the trust vote. The plea alleges that signatures and support of 12 MLAs from different political parties were secured overnight under suspicious circumstances.
The petitioner has claimed that there were serious allegations of horse-trading and financial inducements being offered to legislators in order to influence the outcome of the floor test.
The plea stated,
“In the Tamil Nadu Assembly, some MLAs from other parties were allegedly involved in horse-trading, and huge amounts of money were handed over to certain MLAs by TVK. There are allegations that compromises were made and large sums of money were distributed to them,”
On the basis of these allegations, the petitioner has sought dissolution of the Tamil Nadu Assembly and transfer of the matter to the CBI for a comprehensive investigation.
The plea further urged the Supreme Court to direct imposition of President’s Rule in Tamil Nadu until completion of the proposed investigation.
The petition said,
“Therefore, the Assembly should be dissolved, and the matter should be handed over to the CBI for a full investigation. Until the CBI investigation is completed, governance in Tamil Nadu should be placed under President Rule,”
The petition contends that the alleged events surrounding the trust vote have raised serious concerns regarding the integrity of democratic processes and constitutional governance in the State.
The plea is expected to come up before the Supreme Court for consideration in due course.
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