Chennai sources stated that Justice M Sathyanarayanan of the Madras High Court upheld the Tamilnadu speaker’s decision to disqualify the 18 AIADMK MLAs in September last year. Accordingly the move provided relief to the Tamilnadu government led by Chief Minister E Palanisamy while it was a major setback for TTV Dhinakaran. TTV Dhinakaran told the media after the court's verdict "It is not a setback for us and this is an experience, we will face the situation. Future course of action will be decided after meeting with the 18 MLAs".
Dhinakaran added, insisting that the court order would not impact his ranks "If by-elections are held, we will win”. Moreover he admitted, without ruling out moving to the Supreme Court to challenge the Madras High Court's verdict "We were expecting a positive outcome".
Moreover the meeting between the 18 MLAs with the then Governor Vidyasagar Rao on August 22, 2017 prompted the Speaker to take the decision, as they gave identical letters to the governor 'withdrawing their support' to the chief minister. Further the Madras High Court cancelled their disqualification, the Tamilnadu government led by Palanisamy would have lost its majority in the state assembly even though the 18 lawmakers would also lose their seats. Moreover the high court had given a split verdict in June, after which the Supreme Court had appointed a third judge, Justice Sathyanarayana, to give his orders.
