The Madras High Court has ordered a stay from holding any trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Assembly until further orders. <br/><br/>It has also barred the Election Commission of India from initiating the process of holding bye-elections to the 18 seats that were notified by the Speaker as vacant. The notification was made following the disqualification of the MLAs loyal to the AIADMK's sidelined leader TTV Dhinakaran on Monday.<br/><br/>The disqualified MLAs filed petitions before the High Court yesterday seeking to declare the Speaker's order null and void. The bunch of petitions were clubbed along with the DMK leader MK Stalin's writ petition seeking to convene the state Assembly at the earliest to test the majority of the AIADMK Government. They were heard by Justice M Duraiswamy today.<br/><br/>The lawyers of Mr Dhinakaran argued that the Speaker's action is not in conformity with the provisions of the Anti-Defection law.<br/><br/>As more time was sought from the Speaker's side to file a detailed reply, the court adjourned the case to October 4. The court directed the Speaker, the AIADMK Whip, the Chief Minister and the Governor's Office to file their replies by then. <br/><br/>AIR correspondent reports that all political activities based on the disqualification of the 18 AIADMK dissident legislators have effectively been put on hold by today's direction of the Madras High Court. <br/><br/>It includes holding any trust vote on the floor of the state Assembly. The trust vote has been the main demand of the Opposition prior to the disqualification of the MLAs. Now, they prefer a trust vote only after the disposal of the present case. <br/><br/>However, the court avoiding any specific direction on Wednesday against the disqualification is viewed by political analysts as a setback for the Dhinakaran side for the time being. <br/><br/>Until the court decides on the plethora of petitions, it is expected that there would be outwardly a lull in the scene in the politically volatile state of Tamil Nadu.