The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere in a petition filed by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and others challenging their expulsion from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party and his removal as its coordinator in 2022.
“It does appear there is a split… We will not interfere at this stage. It will only worsen things and lead to a huge chaos. Let things work out by itself,” Justice Sanjiv Khanna heading a Bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta addressed senior advocate K.K. Venugopal, appearing for Mr. Panneerselvam.
Mr. Venugopal accused AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, represented by senior advocate Aryama Sundaram and advocate Rohini Musa, of having converted the joint leadership structure of the party under the coordinator and joint coordinator to single leadership. Mr. Palaniswami was joint coordinator at the time.
Mr. Panneerselvam said the general council meeting held on July 11, 2022 passed “several illegal amendments to the party by-laws” leading to a hostile takeover and his removal as coordinator.
“The stable system of joint leadership of the Party by Coordinator and Joint Coordinator (that has lasted and functioned well for several years since the death of the party’s Eternal General Secretary Late Dr. J. Jayalalithaa) to a system of single leadership. These illegal actions to usurp control of the AIADMK party have been perpetrated by the Respondent No. 3 (Mr. Palaniswami) in a manner blatantly contrary to the bylaws of the AIADMK party,” the petition contended.
The Bench advised Mr. Panneerselvam to state his case in a suit pending in the Madras High Court.
“Our intervention now would lead to unpalatable consequences,” Justice Khanna observed.
The suit has sought a permanent injunction on Mr. Panneerselvam from interfering with Mr. Palaniswami’s functioning as party general secretary; to restrain him from “holding out or claiming” as the coordinator or as a primary member of the AIADMK party; and to prevent him from using the official letterhead, reserved symbol ‘two leaves’ and the official flag of the AIADMK party.
The top court requested the High Court to conduct the trial in the civil suit expeditiously and asked the parties to not take any adjournments.
