How Tamil Nadu severed religion and caste from politicsThe petition, filed by Tamil Nadu resident K.K.
Ramesh, alleged that the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and certain rebel AIADMK legislators had engaged in horse-trading ahead of the trust vote.
“In Tamil Nadu, the rebel MLAs resigned, the Speaker accepted their resignations within minutes, and they joined another party.
Until the CBI investigation is completed, governance in Tamil Nadu should be placed under President’s Rule”, the petition stated.
Subsequently, Tamil Nadu Speaker J.C.D.
The Supreme Court on Friday (June 19, 2026) refused to entertain a petition alleging irregularities and “corruption” in the trust vote held in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on May 13, in which Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay secured a comfortable majority with the support of the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), VCK and IUML, as well as 25 rebel AIADMK MLAs and a lone AMMK legislator.
The petition sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations that “compromises were made” and “huge sums of money were distributed” to secure the support of rebel legislators. It also sought the imposition of President’s Rule in the State pending completion of the investigation.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice V. Mohana declined to entertain the plea, observing that the allegations were unsupported by any credible material on record.
“...the petition is based upon vague, wild and casual allegations without any reliable material on record to substantiate the same. We see no ground to interfere,” the Bench said.
How Tamil Nadu severed religion and caste from politics
The petition, filed by Tamil Nadu resident K.K. Ramesh, alleged that the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and certain rebel AIADMK legislators had engaged in horse-trading ahead of the trust vote. It claimed that “huge amounts of money” and promises of government contracts were offered to former AIADMK MLAs who later voted in favour of the C. Joseph Vijay-led government, allegedly in defiance of the party whip.
Appearing for the petitioner, advocate C.R. Jaya Sukin submitted that several AIADMK legislators had resigned from the Assembly and subsequently joined the TVK, allegedly in contravention of the anti-defection law.
“In Tamil Nadu, the rebel MLAs resigned, the Speaker accepted their resignations within minutes, and they joined another party. The Speaker is supposed to examine the resignation letters, but nothing of that sort happened. In front of the media, the Speaker announced that the resignation letters had been accepted, and within minutes, they joined another party. This is totally horse-trading,” he said.
‘Serial PIL litigant’
The Chief Justice, however, questioned the bona fides of the petitioner, observing that he appeared to be a “serial public interest litigation (PIL) litigant”.
“You cannot be disappointed with the dismissal of one plea. How many PILs does he keep filing? The petitioner is a serial PIL litigant,” he said.
The Bench also declined the petitioner’s request for liberty to approach the High Court for appropriate relief.
The petition, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, stated that the petitioner had been residing in Tamil Nadu for the past 25 years and that the alleged horse-trading had violated his fundamental rights.
Claiming that the events surrounding the trust vote were illegal and inconsistent with democratic principles, the petition sought dissolution of the Assembly and a CBI probe into the allegations.
“The entire events were illegal and not part of a proper democratic movement. 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’s Rule”, the petition stated.
On May 13, the TVK government survived a trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Assembly with the support of 25 rebel AIADMK MLAs amid a walkout by the DMK. Although the party did not command a majority on its own in the 234-member House, it secured the backing of the Congress, VCK, CPI, CPI(M) and IUML, enabling it to cross the halfway mark and retain power.
Subsequently, Tamil Nadu Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar announced that he had dropped further proceedings against 21 of the 25 rebel AIADMK MLAs who voted in favour of the C. Joseph Vijay-led government during the May 13 trust vote. The decision came after AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami wrote to the Speaker, through four separate letters, condoning the legislators’ conduct despite their having voted contrary to the party whip.
