DMK objects to dropping farmer, teacher cases via Rule 110

The Tamil Nadu Assembly witnessed heated exchanges on Wednesday over Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s announcement under Rule 110 to withdraw the cases registered against farmers and teachers over the past five years, with the opposition DMK questioning the use of the provision for this purpose.

Vijay told the House that during the previous regime, many cases were filed between May 2021 and April 2026 against farmers and teachers who fought for their livelihoods and rights.

Soon after the announcement, the opposition DMK’s chief whip EV Velu raised objections to the statement, charging the Government with “misusing” the rule for “political motives”.

Clarifying the opposition’s stance, Velu stated that no one objected to the chief minister using Rule 110 to announce welfare schemes or policy decisions essential for the public.

However, he argued that using the provision to target the previous administration by announcing the withdrawal of cases, rather than launching developmental initiatives, was uncalled for.

“Cases are registered by the police solely to maintain law and order. By using Rule 110 to announce the withdrawal of such cases, is this Government implying that no cases will be registered to preserve law and order in the future, or that it will turn a blind eye to law-and-order issues during critical tasks like land acquisition?” Velu asked, adding that using Rule 110 to criticize a former government goes against the rules. Similarly, Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin said during the previous DMK regime, more than 5,000 cases, including those related to the Kudankulam protests, were withdrawn.

The DMK leader claimed that the then Chief Minister MK Stalin had not used Rule 110 to announce the withdrawal of the case.

Likewise, senior DMK leader KN Nehru claimed that the State Government could not unilaterally decide to withdraw the cases and that the court had to decide in this regard. Rejecting the criticism, Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar affirmed that the Chief Minister had acted strictly within the procedural framework. “The Chief Minister’s announcement under Rule 110 is entirely as per the rules, and there is no lapse in standard procedure. If necessary, I can provide a detailed list of what announcements can be made under Rule 110,” the Speaker retorted. PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna also defended the move, saying that there was no violation of Assembly rules.

The minister said that various farmers’ associations met the Chief Minister and requested to withdraw the cases against them since they were spending more time in court. “It (withdrawal of cases) is purely on the request of the farmers, and there is no politics in this”, he added.