New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations of horsetrading and corruption during the trust vote won by the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government in Tamil Nadu on May 13.
Terming the plea as based on “vague, bald and casual” allegations, a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant rejected the petition, which had also sought the imposition of President’s Rule in the state pending the completion of the proposed investigation.
The petition was filed by KK Ramesh and was argued by advocate CR Jaya Sukin, who urged the court to take note of the prevailing political situation across states, where political parties are switching sides and ruling parties are engaging in all sorts of corrupt deals to win their support.
“Everywhere the ruling party is demolishing democratic activity. There is total horsetrading. Every political party is indulging in corruption. They first bargain for the support of MPs and MLAs by offering them money. If they do not agree, they threaten to launch criminal cases against their family,” Sukin said.
The bench, also comprising justice V Mohana, asked the lawyer, “Which ruling party are you talking about? You have said ruling party. It keeps changing every time.” While the petition only dealt with TVK, Sukin said that he was addressing a general trend among all political parties.
{{/usCountry}}The bench, also comprising justice V Mohana, asked the lawyer, “Which ruling party are you talking about? You have said ruling party. It keeps changing every time.” While the petition only dealt with TVK, Sukin said that he was addressing a general trend among all political parties.
{{/usCountry}}“I am talking about all states. The situation today is that politicians from one state in east India and another in central India are being flown in chartered flights. Who is arranging it for them? Within minutes, they join another party. The Speaker has to consider their resignation letters first. But the Speaker announces to the media they have joined another party. There is a serious threat to democracy,” he said.
The bench, while dismissing the plea, said, “This writ petition is based on vague, bald and casual allegations without any reliable material to substantiate the same.”