New Delhi, June 27: The Supreme Court on Wednesday replaced the third judge appointed by the Madras High Court to hear the plea by 17 unseated AIADMK MLAs belonging to the T.T.V. Dinakaran faction and instead named Justice M. Sathyanarayanan in her place.
A vacation bench of Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul of the apex court appointed Justice Sathyanarayanan as the third judge to hear the case following a split verdict by a two-judge bench of the Madras High Court challenging their disqualification from the membership of the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Following the split verdict, Justice Vimala was originally appointed by the High Court as the third judge. While Chief Justice Indira Banerjee upheld the Speaker's order disqualifying the 18 MLAs, Justice M. Sundar set aside the order.
The apex court also declined a plea by the disqualified lawmakers seeking a transfer of their plea from the Madras High Court to the Supreme Court.
The court appointed Justice Sathyanarayanan after the unseated MLAs withdrew their aspersions against the third judge, who was appointed earlier to hear the matter.
Noting that all the aspersions against the third judge stand expunged, the court said: "We consider it appropriate to assign the matter to Justice Satyanarayana. He will hear the matter and decide."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Patna (PTI): Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will join the party's ongoing 'Palayan Roko, Naukri Do' padyatra in Bihar's Begusarai district on Monday.
Later in the day, he will return to Patna from Begusarai to address the 'Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan' (Save the Constitution Symposium). After that he will visit Sadaqat Ashram, the Bihar Congress office in Patna, to address party workers.
This will be Gandhi's third Bihar tour since January, when he had urged party workers to "inflict an ideological defeat" on the BJP in the assembly polls due later this year.
The Raebareli MP shared a minute-long video message on X on Sunday, urging the youth of Bihar to join him in the march in Begusarai wearing "white T-shirts".
"Our aim is to draw the attention of the world to the plight of Bihar's youth, who find government jobs getting scarce day by day and privatisation bringing no benefits. Let us bring the government in the state under pressure and change it," he said in the video.
Begusarai also happens to be the home district of Kanhaiya Kumar, who has been the star attraction of the padyatra, which began in East Champaran district last month.
The former JNU students' union president had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, on a CPI ticket, from the seat.
In the Bihar assembly polls, the Mahagathbandhan, comprising RJD, Congress and the Left, is pitted against the ruling Nitish Kumar-led NDA that also comprises the BJP.