‘You Are A Serial PIL Litigant’: Supreme Court Rejects Plea For CBI Probe Into Tamil Nadu Trust Vote

The Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice V. Mohana declined to entertain the petition filed by Advocate C.R. Jaya Sukin, who had also sought the imposition of President's Rule in Tamil Nadu pending the completion of the investigation.

During the hearing, the petitioner alleged rampant political horse-trading in the country, claiming that legislators were flown in chartered flights, large sums of money were distributed, and government contracts were promised in exchange for support.

"We are not in a democratic country," the petitioner submitted, urging the Court to intervene "to save democracy in this country."

The CJI asked, "Which party are you talking about?"

The petitioner responded, "I'm here only for Tamil Nadu, but this Court must know what is happening."

The plea alleged that TVK, which had emerged as the single largest party with 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly, had secured the support of legislators from other parties overnight despite being short of the majority mark. It claimed that thousands of crores of rupees were distributed and lucrative government contracts promised to legislators in exchange for their support.

The petition also referred to the split within the AIADMK over extending support to the TVK government and claimed that several legislators had defied party directives during the floor test.

However, the Bench remained unconvinced.

At one stage, the Chief Justice remarked, "He will not be disappointed with the dismissal of one PIL, because how many PILs he keeps on filing."

When the petitioner responded that the matter was a writ petition and not a public interest litigation, the CJI observed, "You are a serial PIL litigant."

The Bench thereafter dismissed the plea, holding that "no ground of interference is made out" and that the allegations of corruption and horse-trading were unsupported by any reliable material.

According to the petition filed through AoR Narender Kumar Verma the May 13 trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Assembly was not conducted in accordance with democratic principles and was allegedly tainted by corruption and inducements. It claimed that "some thousand crores rupees" had been distributed to legislators belonging to other parties and that they were promised government contract works worth around Rs.1,000 crore annually in exchange for their support.

The plea pointed out that the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections had resulted in a fractured verdict. In the 234-member House, TVK had emerged as the single largest party with 108 seats but remained short of the majority mark of 118 required to form the government. Despite this, the petition alleged that TVK managed to secure the signatures of 12 MLAs from various parties overnight, even though certain party presidents had publicly stated that they had not extended support to TVK.

The petitioner also referred to the political turmoil within the AIADMK, claiming that the party had split into two factions over the issue of supporting the TVK government. While the faction led by former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had directed party MLAs not to support TVK and warned of expulsion for violating the party whip, another faction claiming the support of 22 MLAs elected S.P. Velumani as the AIADMK Legislature Party leader and announced support for the TVK government.

The petition further stated that former minister S.P. Velumani and 24 AIADMK legislators had voted in favour of Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay during the floor test, exposing deep divisions within the opposition party. It also referred to the support extended by the lone Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam MLA, S. Kamaraj, who was subsequently expelled from his party.

According to the petitioner, these developments enabled the TVK government to garner the support of around 144 MLAs in the Assembly and successfully prove its majority.

The Bench, however, remained unconvinced.