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On July 11, in the general council meeting, Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) was elected as interim General Secretary, and O Panneerselvam (OPS) along with some of his supporters were ousted from the party.
The Madras High Court today allowed the civil suits filed by ousted AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) and general council member Vairamuthu challenging the General Council (GC) meeting of the party conducted by the other group led by interim general secretary K Palaniswami on July 11, 2022, Economic Times reported.
Court has directed to conduct a fresh general council meeting of the party while ordering the status quo as it existed on June 23 before the concerned general council meeting.
The GC meeting held on July 11, 2022, had ‘expelled’ Panneerselvam and some of his supporters from the party. The GC also elected Palaniswami to be the interim secretary of the party. The developments took place in the wake of the power struggle between the two leaders.
Justice G Jayachandran of Madras High Court reserved the matter for judgment last week after hearing the arguments advanced by the advocates and senior advocates of both groups.
It is to be noted that this is the second round of litigation pertaining to the same issue. Earlier, Paneerselvam had approached the Madras High Court for the stay of the conduct of the GC meeting that was to be held on July, 11, 2022. The High Court had held that in case of difference among the members of the party, the majority will decide the issue. Court had opined that when a majority exercises its powers in relation to a party’s internal administration, the court will not be in a position to interfere with the decision. The court had described it as a “no-go area.”
Court had, moreover, observed that the authority to frame or amend the bye-laws solely vests with the general council of the party and had, thus, concluded that the bye-laws could be framed by the general council, and grievances arising from the same needed to be addressed by the General Council.
Upon the order being pronounced, the general council meeting went on as per schedule on July 11 and former Chief Minister E.Palanisamy was elected as the interim general secretary of AIADMK.
When the matter reached Supreme Court, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Justice NV Ramana directed the Madras High Court to reconsider and decide Paneerselvam’s plea within 3 weeks.
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