No floor test till further orders: Madras High Court  

Without staying the order of disqualification of 18 rebel AIADMK MLAs, the Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered that no floor test should be held in the assembly till further orders.

Justice M Duraiswamy gave the order while hearing the petition from legislators owing allegiance to TTV Dinakaran challenging their disqualification by Speaker P Dhanapal on Monday. The next hearing of the case will take place on October 4.

The judge, while extending the stay on a floor test, also ordered that no by-elections will be held to the seats rendered vacant by the disqualification of MLAs.

The court had last week directed that no floor test will be held till Wednesday, on a petition filed by opposition party DMK. The DMK party had petitioned the court to order Governor C Vidyasagar Rao to convene the assembly and ask Chief Minister K Palaniswami to prove his majority.

Eight of the 18 legislators had moved the court protesting the way in which Speaker P Dhanapal disqualified them under the anti-defection law. The petitioners had also asked the court to restrain the Speaker, Chief Government Whip, S Rajendran, Chief Minister K Palaniswami and the Assembly secretary from interfering with their rights as elected representatives. Earlier the MLAs had met Governor Vidyasagar Rao on August 22 withdrawing support to the government led by chief minister EK Palaniswami.

With inputs from PTI and IANS