In a move that could pave way for the appointment of VK Sasikala as the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, the Supreme Court today refused to grant an urgent hearing to a petition seeking to restrain AIADMk supremo VK Sasikala from taking oath as the third woman Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu till it pronounces verdict in the 21-year-old Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case against her.
Advocate GS Mani mentioned the petition before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar saying the swearing-in of Sasikala as the Chief Minister will be unconstitutional in view of the pending verdict in the top court.
He pleaded that the matter be heard on urgent basis. However, the CJI turned down his request after consulting Justices NV Ramana and DY Chandrachud on the bench.
"Sorry. Declined," the CJI observed.
The Supreme Court had on February 6 asked the Karnataka government to wait for one week for the verdict on batch of pleas challenging the acquittal of the late Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa in a disproportionate assets case. The case also her confidante Sasikala who was last Sunday elected AIADMK legislature party leader.
Chennai resident Senthil Kumar, who is general secretary of NGO Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, had then filed a PIL in the Supreme Court urging the top court to stop the swearing in of Sasikala till the SC verdict was pronounced.
Kumar sought a stay on Sasikala's swearing-in contending that if she was convicted and forced to resign, there could be a ‘possibility of riots erupting all over Tamil Nadu’.
He said that the law and order situation may worsen in such an eventuality as the state was already facing a desperate situation due to cyclone, demonetisation and death of Jayalalithaa.
