AIADMK’s expelled leader O. Panneerselvam suffered a setback ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, with the Madras High Court on Monday, March 18, 2024, granting an interim injunction restraining him from using the party’s official letterhead, the ‘two leaves’ symbol and the party flag. It also restrained him from claiming to be the coordinator or even a primary member of the party.
Justice N. Sathish Kumar passed the orders while allowing a bunch of applications filed by AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami last year, seeking this interim relief until the disposal of a civil suit filed by him seeking a permanent injunction against the expelled leader.
In his plaint, Mr. Palaniswami said Mr. Panneerselvam was expelled from primary membership of the party by its general council on July 11, 2022 for several anti-party activities including the ransacking of the party’s headquarters. He also stated that the expelled leader had failed to obtain favourable orders in the legal challenge put up against his expulsion. Yet, on April 20, 2023, a person named K. Kumar filed a nomination to contest the Karnataka Assembly elections as the AIADMK candidate and submitted forms signed by Mr. Panneerselvam who claimed to be the coordinator of the party.
