At a time when the Edappadi K. Palaniswami-led AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu is hanging on to power on a wafer-thin majority, a court verdict delivered a major blow on Monday. A special court in Chennai convicted Sports and Youth Welfare minister P. Balakrishna Reddy in a stone-pelting case and sentenced him to three years in jail. The verdict means that Reddy stands disqualified as an MLA as per the Representation of Peoples Act 1951.
The special court, however, later in the evening accepting a memo moved by him. Trial judge J. Shanthi suspended the sentence, thus allowing Reddy to move the Madras High Court. He is expected to do so on Tuesday.
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“It is a stone-pelting case which happened 20 years ago. I will file an appeal in the Madras High Court tomorrow,” said Reddy. He was accused of stone-pelting and damaging properties during a rally against illicit liquor, in 1998. Reddy was then a member of the BJP.
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If the Madras High Court does not stay the conviction, Reddy will lose his MLA post as he stands disqualified. His Hosur Assembly constituency will have to be announced vacant by the election commission on a notification from the Assembly speaker. As per the provisions of the Representation of Peoples Act 1951, any MLA or MP, if convicted for more than two years, stands disqualified with immediate effect and cannot contest in any election for the next three years.
If Reddy is disqualified, Hosur will be the 21st vacant constituency in the state. It may be recalled that the Thiruparankundram and Thiruvarur seats fell vacant because of the death of AIADMK’s A.K. Bose and former chief minister M. Karunanidhi respectively. Bypoll to Thiruvarur constituency, which was to be held on January 28, has been cancelled.
Also, 18 constituencies fell vacant because the MLAs defected to rebel leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran's side, and, consequently, they were disqualified. The verdict came in September in 2018 and they have time till January 25 this year to appeal against it. If they don't, the election commission will announce bypolls for these constituencies.
