New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar on Tuesday (June 9) announced that he has dropped anti-defection proceedings against 21 of the 25 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) legislators who had voted against their party’s whip during the May 13 confidence motion for chief minister C. Joseph Vijay’s government.Addressing reporters at the Chennai Secretariat, the speaker said that the decision came after AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami wrote four separate letters pardoning the conduct of the 21 rebel lawmakers.However, Prabhakar clarified that proceedings would continue against the remaining four MLAs Maragatham Kumaravel (Madurantakam), S. Jayakumar (Perundurai), P. Sathyabama (Dharapuram), and Esaki Subaya (Ambasamudram), who have resigned from the AIADMK and crossed over to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). A final call on their cases, he said, would be made at a later stage.Outlining the chronology, the speaker said that on the evening of May 13 itself, Palaniswami had formally written to him seeking the disqualification of all 25 rebel MLAs under the tenth schedule of the constitution, citing their defiance of the party whip during the confidence vote. The anti-defection law seeks to prevent political defections which may be due to reward of office or other similar considerations.Later, the AIADMK chief sent four letters to the speaker condoning the actions of only 21 of those MLAs. After examining the letters and reviewing the relevant assembly rules, Prabhakar said he concluded that the proceedings against the 21 could be set aside.The speaker then read out the full list of the 21 MLAs who have been let off: G. Hari (Tiruttani), S.M. Sukumar (Arcot), K.C. Veeramani (Jolarpet), P. Balakrishnareddy (Hosur), K.P. Anbalagan (Palacodu), Maragatham Vetrivel (Pappireddippatti), Dhilipan Jaishankar (Sankarankovil SC), C.Ve. Shanmugam (Mailam), R. Rakesh (Sankarapuram), S. Sekar (Paramathi-Velur), N.S.N. Nataraj (Kangayam), P. Haribaskar (Anthiyur), S.P. Velumani (Thondamuthur), K. Ravimanoharan (Palani), Natham R. Viswanathan (Natham), M.R. Vijayabhaskar (Karur), Leemarose Martin (Lalgudi), K. Mohan (Panruti), A. Arunmozhithevan (Bhuvanagiri), R. Kamaraj (Nannilam), and C. Vijayabaskar (Viralimalai).