AIADMK chief’s post: High Court orders notice to Sasikala

Party challenges locus standi of MP Sasikala Pushpa, husband to file petition

December 17, 2016 07:42 am | Updated December 18, 2016 12:14 pm IST - CHENNAI

V.K. Sasikala.

V.K. Sasikala.

The Madras High Court on Friday ordered notices to the AIADMK and V.K. Sasikala on a petition filed by expelled party Rajya Sabha member Sasikala Pushpa and her husband seeking to maintain status quo in the party against electing the former as the general secretary of the party.

The court, however, refused to pass any interim order after hearing hour-long arguments, on the locus standi of the MP and her husband to seek such relief.

Alleging that attempts were being made to elect Ms. Sasikala as the party supremo bypassing the party bylaws which mandate that the general secretary can be elected only in a general body meeting of the AIADMK, the Rajya Sabha MP and her husband who claimed to be primary members of the party moved a suit seeking status quo till the procedures are properly followed.

 

Moving the suit on behalf of Sasikala Pushpa and her husband Lingeswara Thilagan, senior advocate K.M. Vijayan said, “The primary eligibility to contest the election for the General Secretary is that the contestant must have been a primary member of the party continuously for five years. Ms. Sasikala was expelled from the party by the then general secretary Jayalalithaa in December 2011. It was only in March 2012 she was again given the primary membership. So far, she has not completed the mandated five years, and hence, is ineligible to contest.”

Though this rule can be amended by passing a resolution in the general body, the mandate that only a general body can elect the general secretary cannot be amended as there is a bar in the bylaw to make such modification, Mr. Vijayan argued.

Pointing out that the bylaws do not provide a notice period after which a general body can be convened, the senior counsel said, “When the bylaw is silent about an issue, those aspects would be governed by the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. According to the Act, 21 days notice must be given to convene the general body.”

Sasikala Pushpa

Sasikala Pushpa

Denying the contentions, senior advocate B. Kumar who appeared for the AIADMK said, “We have strong objections on the maintainability of the suit. The first plaintiff Sasikala Puspha has been expelled from the party on August 1, 2016, and thus, she does not hold any locus standi to move this suit against the AIADMK. Also, it had to be verified whether Ms. Pushpa’s husband was indeed a primary member of the party. However, the bylaws of the AIADMK prohibit a member from approaching the court assailing the party's decision on any issue.

“When a member approaches the court violating the bylaw, his membership automatically gets terminated, and hence, by his act of filing this suit, the second plaintiff has lost his membership and consequently lost his locus standi,” the senior counsel added.

Denying the argument that the provisions of the Societies Act bind the AIADMK, Mr. Kumar said, “The AIADMK is registered under the Representation of Peoples Act as a political party and not under the Societies Act as a society. Hence, the provisions of Societies Act would not apply to the party.”

Noting that there are lot of misconceptions in the arguments, Mr. Vijayan said, “Though it is claimed that the first plaintiff has been expelled from the party, so far no communication has been sent to her about the expulsion. Even the Rajya Sabha Secretary has not been informed of such a decision. Till now, she is attending the Rajya Sabha representing the AIADMK. As far as the second plaintiff is concerned, it is his constitutional right to approach a court of law. Such a right cannot be curtailed by a bylaw.”

Recording the arguments put forth by both the parties, Justice K. Kalyanasundaram ordered notices to the AIADMK and V.K. Sasikala and posted the suit to December 21 for filing counter affidavits.

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