Chennai: Advocates of DMK legislative party leader MK Stalin dismissed FIRs against him and other DMK MLAs for holding protests in area barred to them were easily bailed offences and that they were not serious at all.

The FIRs against the DMK leaders came on Sunday, a day ahead of proposed DMK protest against suspension of MLAs. The DMK MLAs were planning to hold another mock assembly session making fun of the assembly proceedings and using the occasion to damage the image of the government and also that of the assembly and how it was being run.

For the record, the police filed FIRs against Stalin and 60 MLAs for holding protests inside assembly complex, which was barred by the speaker under whose jurisdiction the area falls. Even this is contested by the DMK MLAs who insisted that the writ of the speaker does not run all across the premises of the assembly. In fact, the assembly staff also prevented the DMK MLAs from going to the office of leader of opposition Stalin which is located within the assembly complex premises.

On Sunday, police filed the FIR against the DMK leaders for congregating inside the assembly premises without permission. The DMK MLAs were protesting against Speaker S Dhanpal for suspending them from the house for their alleged unruly behavior. The DMK has also challenged the Speaker’s orders in the Madras High Court.

The police have filed a case against 60 MLAs for their protest on August 18 and August 19. On August 18, they incidentally, on Wednesday last, speaker Dhanpal suspended 89 DMK MLAs for unruly behavior inside the assembly.

Finance minister O Panneerselvam moved a resolution seeking suspension of the DMK MLAs, which the speaker accepted.

The DMK members were protesting derisive comments against their leader Stalin and his mass contact programme – Nammakku Naame, that he undertook before the elections.

On Wednesday, assembly marshals lifted Stalin and carried him out of the assembly once speaker ordered their eviction. Stalin described speaker’s action as arbitrary and said it was the conspiracy of the chief minister and the speaker to prevent the DMK from acting as a responsible opposition party.

It was to highlight how the DMK was being stifled inside the house, the DMK held a mock assembly outside the house on Friday. They were planning to hold another mock session on Monday.