Pondicherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi has defended her last year’s appointment of nominated MLAs to Pondicherry Legislative Assembly.

The Centre had earlier recommended the names of Pondicherry BJP leader Saminathan, treasurer Shankar and Selvaganapathy, trustee of Vivekananda Group of Educational Institutions, as the three nominated MLAs in the Assembly.  However, Congress chief-minister Narayanaswamy was not in agreement on the issue and opposed the nomination of the trio.

Bedi administered the oath of office and secrecy to the trio as nominated MLAs in July last year which was contested by the Pondicherry Government which moved the High Court of Madras in this regard.

When the case came up for hearing today, the Court ruled in Bedi’s favour and said that the appointments were done in the right manner. Reacting to the verdict, Bedi remarked that the MLAs were appointed based only on the provisions in the Constitution of India.