New Delhi, June 27 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that Justice M. Sathyanarayanan of the Madras High Court would hear and decide the plea of 18 disqualified AIADMK legislators. 

A vacation bench of justices Arun Mishra and S.K. Kaul passed the order on a plea by some of the disqualified legislators who were seeking transfer of their petition challenging their disqualification by the Tamil Nadu Assembly speaker from the Madras High Court to the apex court.

On September 18 last year, Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal had disqualified the 18 MLAs owing allegiance to side-lined party leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran on the grounds that they had tried to pull down the AIADMK government in the state.

On June 14, a division bench of the Madras High Court had given a split verdict on petitions challenging the disqualification of these legislators, a ruling that maintained status quo in the corridors of power in Tamil Nadu.

“We consider it appropriate to assign the case on difference of opinion to Justice M Sathyanarayanan. He will hear the matter and decide it,” the apex court said.

The high court had delivered divergent verdicts on whether the 18 lawmakers deserved to be disqualified under the anti-defection law by the speaker for approaching the Governor and seeking the removal of Chief Minister K. Palaniswami.

The court had ruled that the senior-most judge after the high court Chief Justice would now hand-pick a third judge, who will hear the matter afresh.