The Madras High Court on Friday, April 26, 2024, adjourned to June 7, a public interest litigation petition that had challenged an order passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Speaker on November 7, 2006 withdrawing sanction granted by his predecessor in 2005 to prosecute incumbent Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in the flyover construction scam case.
Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad directed the petitioner’s counsel to produce judgements, if any, on the powers of the High Court to review orders passed by the Speaker and also whether an order could be challenged after 17 years. Manickam Athappa Gounder of Coimbatore had filed the PIL petition.
The Registry had listed the case before the Bench for deciding its maintainability. During the hearing on April 5, the judges had directed the petitioner to deposit ₹1 lakh in the court to prove his bonafides. After the petitioner complied with the direction, the Bench decided to hear the matter at length, after the summer vacation for the court in May. They also directed his counsel to produce authorities on the merits of the case when the matter was listed next.
