HC reserves orders on OPS plea against July 11 AIADMK meet

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday reserved its orders on a civil suit filed by AIADMK leader and former co-ordinator of the party O Panneerselvam, seeking to stay the conduct of the general council meeting of the party to be held at a marriage hall in Vanagaram here on July 11.

Justice Krishnan Ramaswamy reserved the orders, to be delivered around 9 a.m. on Monday (July 11), after listening to the marathon arguments advanced by the senior counsel for both the factions. The GC meet is expected to commence at 9.15 a.m. on that day.

Earlier, Vijay Narayan, the senior counsel representing former joint co-ordinator and party leader Edappadi K Palanisamy, told the judge that there was nothing new in the head-quarters office-bearers of the party convening the GC meeting in the absence of the echelons of the party. It happened in 1987, when party founder MG Ramachandran died and his successor J Jayalalithaa was declared as the general secretary of the party. Same thing repeated after the death of Jayalalithaa in 2016, when Sasikala was elected as the interim general secretary of the party.

OPS has instituted the suit against one and half crore primary members, 2665 general council members, over 250 executive council members and against 74 office-bearers of the party. After having instituted such a suit, he still claims he is the Coordinator of the party. This is completely fallacious. The suit as framed, is riddled with irreconcilable and inherent contradictions. Over 2,430 GC members had signed the resolution to discuss the issue of single leadership on July 11. And one person was trying to stifle the democratic process, EPS contended.

Moreover, the Supreme Court has already allowed him and his men to conduct the meeting and made it clear that the hands of the GC should not be fettered on what it has to decide. The posts of Coordinator and joint coordinator do not exist as the same was not ratified by the June 23 GC. In the absence of the two posts, the headquarters office-bearers, the supreme body, steps in. One man was trying to stifle the growth of the party, which cannot be permitted, EPS added.