The big-ticket political case was listed for judgment late on Wednesday night. Justice Sathyanarayanan was named the third judge by the Supreme Court, after the then first bench of Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar had delivered a split verdict.
After 12 days of meticulous hearing, Justice Sathyanarayanan reserved his orders on August 31.
The fate of the 18 MLAs who faced disqualification for their dissent against Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami depends on the verdict of the third judge.
On June 14, the first bench of the court passed a split verdict, with the then Chief Justice Indira Banerjee upholding the decision of the assembly Speaker in disqualifying the MLAs under the anti-defection law. The second judge, Justice M Sundar, differed and set aside the disqualification order of the Speaker on the grounds of perversity, non-compliance with principles of natural justice, mala fide and violation of constitutional mandate.
Subsequently, the seniormost judge of the high court, Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh, appointed Justice S Vimala as the third judge to decide the case. Aggrieved over the choice of judge, one among the disqualified legislators approached the Supreme Court, seeking to transfer the disqualification case to itself.
On June 27, a vacation bench of the Supreme Court nominated Justice Sathyanarayanan as the third judge.
from Times of India https://ift.tt/2q8NQs0
