CHENNAI: There is no express bar on the Tamil Nadu assembly speaker permitting a secret ballot, but his decision not to have it cannot be questioned by any member before any forum, feel jurists.The genesis of the ruckus on the floor of the House on Saturday was speaker P Dhanapal's refusal to heed to the DMK's demand to conduct voting on the confidence motion of chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami through secret ballot. The speaker stuck to the tradition of division vote, much to the DMK's chagrin.The assembly business rule 99, cited by the speaker, provides for voice vote and division vote, said senior advocate and constitutional law expert K M Vijayan. "In law, what is not prohibited is permitted. Since there is no bar for secret ballot, the speaker could have permitted it, had he decided to afford equal chance to both sides," he added.Rule 99 has two voting options, but it does not prohibit the third option, said Vijayan."The thumb rule is fair practice. So, anything done to ensure fairness cannot be called violation of rule 99. Possessing sky-high powers, the speaker could have allowed secret ballot, though the DMK demand of deferring the test of strength is not permissible."Justice K Chandru, a former Madras high court judge, is categorical that no one can question the speaker's decision."Most of the legislations which govern us are passed by voice vote, and not even by rising hands. Members can demand secret ballot. But unless it is accepted by the speaker, where is the question of attacking him. They are bound by the speaker's decision.When DMK was in power, speakers have always followed voice vote or division vote," he said."Ultimately , the internal procedure adopted by the speaker cannot be questioned before any forum, except in anti-defection law issues, where the speaker acts like a quasi-judicial authority ," said Justice Chandru.Routine House proceedings per se, such as the one witnessed on Saturday , cannot be questioned, he said, adding: "This is not a case of two assemblies, two speakers and two candidates. Also, the O Panneerselvam group never questioned the authority of the speaker."There is another procedure, when House businesses are concluded by `guillotine', he said, adding that a clutch of bills could be passed in one stroke without any discussion if members make a request and the speaker allows it.Vijayan, however, said legislative and parliamentary practices would keep changing. "Wherever they are silent, certain powers are permissible. Not just in rules, speaker can draw power from unwritten code such as convention.Assembly rules are only indicative procedures, and they cannot restrict a speaker's discretion and power."

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