Published Jul 16, 2026 | 1:21 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 16, 2026 | 1:21 PM
Madras High Court.
Synopsis: The petitioner argued that the claim made by a TVK MLA that he was approached as part of a horse-trading attempt was not believable and that the First Information Report registered in the case also lacked credibility. The petitioner also pointed out that the Speaker had been elected unanimously.
The Madras High Court on Thursday, 16 July, reserved its verdict on a public interest litigation seeking a CBI probe into complaints made by MLAs alleging attempts at political “horse-trading.”
The public interest petition was filed by Advocate J Balasubramaniam, seeking a direction to transfer the investigation into the allegations from the Tamil Nadu Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel argued that authorities “cannot turn a blind eye when horse-trading is taking place.”
The counsel further submitted that the claim made by a TVK MLA that he was approached as part of a horse-trading attempt was not believable and that the First Information Report (FIR) registered in the case also lacked credibility. The petitioner also pointed out that the Speaker had been elected unanimously.
It was further argued that while five complaints alleging horse-trading involving Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) had been submitted, no action had been taken on those complaints. Instead, the police had selectively acted only on certain complaints.
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Questioning the plea, the division bench observed that an FIR had already been registered and an investigation was underway. The judges asked why a CBI probe should be ordered when the state police were already investigating the matter.
The bench also questioned whether the case should be transferred to the CBI merely because no action had been taken on other complaints.
Opposing the plea, the Tamil Nadu government submitted that the state police were taking appropriate steps to ascertain the truth and that there was no need to transfer the investigation to the CBI.
The petition specifically sought the transfer of the case registered by the Triplicane Police based on the complaint lodged by Uthangarai TVK MLA Ilaiyaraja to the CBI.
In addition to the FIR registered on Ilaiyaraja’s complaint, the petitioner also sought a CBI investigation into allegations of horse-trading raised by other MLAs.
