Sudden Change In Political Loyalty Not Offence Sans Evidence: Madras High Court Dismisses Plea For CBI Probe Into AIADMK MLAs Joining TVK

The Madras High Court, on Tuesday (June 16), dismissed a PIL seeking a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption in the manner in which four MLAs from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party resigned from their posts after winning State assembly elections and joined Chief Minister Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party on the same day. [2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 256] The bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan had reserved orders earlier today. The bench has now dismissed the plea, stating that sudden realignment in political loyalty, by itself, is not an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act without any supporting evidence. “While a sudden realignment of political loyalty by respondent Nos.12 to 15 may cause financial strain due to the necessities of conducting a bye-election, such political choices do not ipso facto translate into criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act, in the complete absence of proof of an unlawful quid pro quo,” the court observed. The court also noted that the plea was filed on assumptions of corruption, without any evidence to prove the same. The court added that the petitioner had not given any details of transactions in connection with the alleged corruption and the plea itself was a classic example of a fishing expedition. “In the case at hand, the petition itself is based on the assumption of corruption, without giving any details about the transactions or source of such information and, therefore, in our firm view, this public interest litigation is nothing but a classic example of a fishing expedition,” the court said. It may be noted that the results of the Tamil Nadu General Assembly Elections were declared on May 4th 2026, with former actor Vijay's TVK party emerging victorious with the highest number of votes. However, since the party had secured 108 votes, which was less than the majority needed to form a government (118), the party sought support from other political parties. Following this, the TVK formed a government, and a confidence motion was held on the assembly floors on 13th May, in which the party secured 144 votes in its favour. The petition, filed by advocate and AIADMK member Ramkumar Adityan, alleged that a part of AIADMK members, including the resigned MLAs, voted in favour of TVK, contrary to the explicit legislative direction or “whip” issued by the AIADMK party. Following this, disqualification proceedings were started against the members who voted against the party mandate. However, four of the MLAs tendered their formal resignation, which was accepted by the Speaker. After the acceptance of resignation, the MLAs joined the TVK party. The petitioner alleged that the TVK party was involved in horse trading to increase the count of their legislative members. The petitioner argued that such horse trading and party-hopping constitute a direct murder of democracy and impose a burden on the exchequer for conducting bye-elections, to the tune of Rs 100 Crores. Thus, the petitioner made complaints seeking a CBI probe. The court observed that except making highly generalised, sweeping and vague allegations of corruption against the MLAs, there was not even an iota of tangible material to show that there was corruption involved in the resignation of four MLAs, 10 days after the declaration of results and joining the winning party thereafter. The court added that it could use its extraordinary powers to direct a CBI probe only when a clear cognisable offence was established by evidentiary facts. Noting that such fishing and roving enquiry could not be directed by the High Court exercising jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution, the court dismissed the plea. Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. S. Sankar Counsel for Respondent: Mr. K. Kumaran Government Pleader Case Title: B Ramkumar Adityan v The Secretary and Others Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 256 Case No: WP.No.22340 of 2026Click Here To Read/Download The Judgment

Sudden Change In Political Loyalty Not Offence Sans Evidence: Madras High Court Dismisses Plea For CBI Probe Into AIADMK MLAs Joining TVK

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Sudden Change In Political Loyalty Not Offence Sans Evidence: Madras High Court Dismisses Plea For CBI Probe Into AIADMK MLAs Joining TVK

Upasana Sajeev

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