Madras HC to hear DMK's plea challenging trust vote

The Madras High Court will today hear DMK's plea seeking to declare null and void, Saturday's vote of confidence in the Tamil Nadu Assembly by Chief Minister EK Palaniswami. The opposition had moved the court yesterday and the bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi Ramesh and Justice R Mahadeven, posted the matter for hearing today.

Mr Palaniswami had won the trust vote 122-11 in the 234-member Assembly, aided by the eviction of DMK and walkout by its allies. DMK has 89 MLAs in the Assembly. The division vote was taken up after two adjournments



following uproarious scenes as opposition MLAs insisted on a secret vote, which was rejected by Speaker P Dhanapal.Meanwhile, DMK has said, it will soon move a no-confidence motion against the Assembly Speaker. In a press conference, the party's working president and leader of opposition in the Assembly, MK Stalin accused the Speaker of deliberately harping on his community to malign the party.

Mr Stalin was responding to the Speaker's charge that he was perhaps targeted by the DMK during the ruckus in the Trust vote for hailing from a particular community.