New Delhi: The Madras high court on Wednesday (July 31) revived a breach of privilege proceedings that was initiated against Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin and 17 other DMK legislators back in 2017.
The breach of privilege proceedings were initiated against Stalin and his party MLAs after they carried displayed packets of gutkha in the assembly as part of a protest about open availability of gutkha in the market back in 2017, reported Bar and Bench.
While a 2021 court order had stayed the privilege proceedings against the politicians, a bench of Justices, S.M. Subramaniam and C Kumarappan set aside the earlier court order that had stayed notices and further proceedings.
Remitting the matter back to the privilege committee and the Tamil Nadu assembly Speaker, the court said that “issues such as breach of privilege cannot be washed away” just because a new government had come to power at the state.
Earlier, senior lawyer NR Elango, who represented the DMK legislators, had told the court that Stalin and the MLAs had shown sachets of gutkha in the Tamil Nadu assembly on July 19, 2017, to draw attention to the fact that despite being banned, gutkha was easily available for consumption in shops across the state, reported Bar and Bench.
