Panneerselvam faction cites South African verdict on secret trust vote

New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) The AIADMK faction, led by O. Panneerselvam on Tuesday cited a recent South African top court verdict permitting secret voting as an option on a no-confidence motion against President Jacob Zuma in their plea in the Supreme Court for fresh trust vote through secret ballot in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E.K. Palaniswami,

Senior counsel Gopal Subramanium told the bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Amitava Roy and Justice A.M.Khanwilkar about the recent judgment of South African Supreme Court which held that Speaker of the National Assembly was wrong in not ordering secret vote on a motion of no confidence in President Zuma.

While holdings that Constitution "neither prohibits, nor prescribes an open ballot," the top South African court had said that the Speaker can, "prescribe what she considers to be the appropriate voting procedure in the circumstances. There must always be a proper and rational basis for whatever choice the Speaker makes".

As the Panneerselvam faction cited the verdict to back their plea, the bench granted time to Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar to file his written note covering the issue before the court.

Ranjit Kumar is assisting the court in the matter after Attorney General K.K.Venugopal recused himself as he had earlier given legal opinion to the to the AIADMK faction led by Panneerselvam.

The court also permitted Subramanium appearing for the petitioner K. Pandianrajan to submit written note on the issue including development in international jurisdictions.

Pandianrajan of the Panneerselvam faction has challenged February 18 trust vote won by Chief Minister Palaniswami and is seeking fresh vote with secret ballot.

The matter will come up for hearing on August 9.