The Madras High Court on Tuesday ruled that the July 11 general council meeting of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is invalid, PTI reported. At the meeting, Edappadi K Palaniswami had been elevated as the interim general secretary of the party.
A single bench of Justice G Jayachandran ordered the AIADMK to maintain the status quo as it existed on June 23 – when Palaniswami was the joint coordinator and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Paneerselvam was the coordinator of the party.
Justice Jayachandran also directed the AIADMK to hold a fresh meeting of the party’s general council, Live Law reported. He passed the order on a plea filed by Panneerselvam challenging the July 11 general council meeting.
At the meeting, the AIADMK had expelled Panneerselvam from the party’s primary membership for “anti-party activities”.
The positions of the coordinator and the joint coordinator were created during the general council meeting on September 12, 2017, after the party gave the honorary title of “eternal general secretary” to late former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
The general council members, however, in the July meeting abolished the party’s dual leadership model and appointed Palaniswami the “single supreme leader”.
This was after a different bench of the Madras High Court had dismissed a plea filed by Panneerselvam seeking to stall the meeting.
Panneerselvam had then moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Madras High Court’s order.
On July 29, the Supreme Court had asked the Madras High Court to take a decision within three weeks on Panneerselvam’s plea, which contended that the July 11 meeting was in contravention of the bye-laws of the party.
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