T.N. Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy, who has been convicted by the Madras High Court in a disproportionate assets case and is facing disqualification, will be the third serving legislator of the State to suffer a disqualification in the past 10 years.
However, an official of the Tamil Nadu Assembly secretariat said the text of the judgement of the Court had to be studied first, before taking any decision on the matter.
In January 2019, then Sports and Youth Welfare Minister P. Balakrishna Reddy was convicted in a case of rioting. Subsequently, he quit his post. The first person to be disqualified was Jayalalithaa in September 2014, when she was Chief Minister of T.N. She was also convicted in a case of disproportionate assets.
In July 2013, the Supreme Court struck down Section 8 (4) of the Representation of People Act that allowed convicted elected representatives to hold office on the ground of filing an appeal in a higher court within three months.
Five years later, the Court made it clear that a sitting MLA or MP would automatically incur disqualification from holding membership of the House if their conviction was not stayed.
