The Madras High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal asking him why no action was taken against 12 MLAs including Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam who had defied the whip on a confidence motion held in February.
The court directed the Speaker to reply to the notice by October 12 on the petition moved by DMK Assembly Whip Chakrapani seeking disqualification of 12 AIADMK MLAs.
Panneerselvam and 10 MLAs supporting him voted against Edappadi K Palanisami government during the trust vote while one MLA abstained from voting.
Panneerselvam revolted against the AIADMK led by VK Sasikala when he stepped down from the government on February 5 and later alleged that he was forced to do so at the behest of her.
During the last hearing, the Madras High Court extended its stay order on a floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly till further directions.
Earlier, Eight of the 18 MLAs had moved the court , challenging the action against them under the anti-defection law.
The dissident MLAs condemned the Speaker's order as 'unauthorised' and 'illegal' in their individual petitions.
The petitioners also sought to restrain the Speaker, government chief whip S Rajendran, Chief Minister K Palaniswami and the Assembly secretary from interfering with their rights as elected representatives.
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