P. Balakrishna Reddy, who resigned as Sports and Youth Welfare Minister following his conviction in a case of arson, incurred disqualification from holding public office on Monday, as per a Supreme Court ruling.
While he resigned as Minister following a meeting with Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, there was no official communication as to whether steps had been initiated to notify a vacancy in the Hosur Assembly constituency, which Mr. Reddy represented.
A late-night Raj Bhavan press release said the Governor accepted Mr. Reddy’s resignation and allocated his portfolios to School Education Minister K.A. Sengottaiyan.
The Chief Minister also held a meeting with Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan and Advocate General Vijay Narayan following the court verdict.
In July 2013, the Supreme Court had struck down Section 8 (4) of the Representation of People Act that allowed convicted elected representatives to hold office on the ground of filing an appeal in a higher court within three months.
Subsequently in July 2018, the Supreme Court made it clear that a sitting MLA or MP would automatically incur disqualification from holding membership of the House if their conviction is not stayed.
In Mr Reddy’s case, the Special Court had only suspended the imprisonment sentence awarded to him and not his conviction.
Another byelection
As and when Mr. Reddy’s disqualification is given effect to by the Speaker, the AIADMK strength in the 234-member House would go down to 114 (excluding the Speaker). Once the vacancy is notified, byelections would have to be held in 21 Assembly constituencies, including in Tiruvarur, Tirupparankundram and the 18 seats vacated by the disqualified AIADMK MLAs.
Earlier DMK president M K Stalin called for Mr Reddy’s resignation saying his continuance in the Cabinet would be a shame to Tamil Nadu. He also sought action against Higher Education Secretary Mangat Ram Sharma against whom the Madras High Court on Monday issued an arrest warrant for not appearing in the court in connection with a case.