Plea in Madras High Court to produce missing' AIADMK MLAs

Chennai: A plea has been made in the Madras high court to produce two AIADMK MLAs, whose whereabouts were allegedly not known after they attended the party’s legislative committee meeting on February 8. The habeas corpus petitions filed by advocates V. Preetha and M.R. Elavarasan are likely to come up for hearing on February 10. While Preetha, sought a direction to the police to produce her cousin and MLA from Krishnarayapuram assembly constituency M. Geetha before the court and set her at liberty, Elavarasan, a voter from Kunnam Constituency, Perambalur district sought a direction to the police to produce MLA from Kunnam constituency R.T. Ramachandran and 130 other MLAs before the court and set them at liberty.

According to advocate K. Balu, appearing for Elavarasan, when he sought the court’s permission earlier in the day to move an urgent HCP as 130 MLAs and Ramachandran were allegedly kept under detention against their will in a resort in ECR, government advocate Rajendran denied the allegation and informed the MLAs were free and safe in the MLA hostel at Chepauk. However, questioning the locus standi of the petitioner, the division bench declined to entertain the plea for urgent hearing.

In her petition, Preetha submitted that in the recent political conditions of the state, it was stated that all the MLAs of the AIADMK were under the illegal custody of V.K. Sasikala, general secretary of AIADMK. One of such MLA was her second cousin M. Geetha. It was also understood that they were not allowed to use a cell phone or to move around freely. The fundamental right of freedom of movement was curtailed to her cousin by Sasikala, she added. Elavarasan submitted that on February 8, his constituency MLA R.T. Ramachandran went to Chennai to attend the AIADMK party meeting, but he did not return to the constituency. His efforts to trace his whereabouts went in vain.

It was widely reported that the MLAs were transported like cattle and detained in a hotel. One of the MLA Shanmuganathan, who escaped from the illegal custody, had deposed to the media that he had come out of the custody with great difficulty and all the 130 MLAs were detained against their will and their family members were not allowed to meet them and they were under life threat. The detention was purely for political reasons preventing them from freely exercising their franchise to elect the chief minister, he added.