Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami won a shot in the arm on Wednesday with the Supreme Court staying a Madras High Court order of June 23 which had restrained the AIADMK general council from taking any decision on the party's leadership question.
The order came on a plea by Mr. Palaniswami that the "vexatious and prejudicial acts" of his former colleague O. Panneerselvam had brought the AIADMK's functioning to a "standstill". He accused Mr. Panneerselvam of "disrupting" the general council meeting on June 23 when the issue of single leadership was raised by the party cadre. He said Mr. Panneerselvam had initiated court proceedings "so that the meeting will not go ahead and the party cadre will not be able to express their intention".
Staying the "operation and effect" of the June 23 order of a Division Bench of the High Court, a Vacation Bench of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Krishna Murari said "who wants to do what or intends to do what in a general council meeting of a party is essentially a matter within that party or compact... Can the court extend its jurisdiction to order what decision should or should not be taken in a general council meeting?"
