The Madras High Court on Friday refused to pass any interim order with respect to the conduct of the AIADMK organisational elections, scheduled to be held on Tuesday, for the posts of coordinator and co-coordinator of the party.
Justice Abdul Quddhose only ordered notices, returnable by January 7, to the AIADMK, its incumbent coordinator O. Pannneerselvam, co-coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami and election officers C. Ponnaiyan and Pollachi V. Jayaraman. He adjourned the case by a month for the filing of counter-affidavits.
Former MP K.C. Palanisamy had filed the civil suit, seeking to declare illegal the election notification issued by the party on Thursday. He also sought a permanent injunction restraining the defendants from conducting polls to the posts of coordinator and co-coordinator.
He sought the appointment of a retired High Court judge as an independent election officer to conduct the polls after issuing a fresh notification and providing 21 days’ time for the candidates to file their nominations. He also questioned his removal from the party.
Senior counsel Vijay Narayan, representing the AIADMK, brought to the notice of the court that the plaintiff was removed from primary membership of the party in 2018, and he had filed a suit now, challenging his removal, and simultaneously sought multiple orders with respect to the organisational elections.
Senior counsel P.H. Arvindh Pandian, G. Krishnan and Satish Parasaran, representing the other defendants in the suit, said the former MP had no locus standi to question the elections and, therefore, the court should not entertain any request for passing interim orders with respect to the elections.
The petitioner’s counsel said over 27,000 members of the party were supporting his case, and it was against the bylaws to conduct the polls within five days of issuance of the notification. He also claimed that a candidate who wanted to file his nomination was thrashed at the AIADMK office on Friday.
After hearing both sides, the judge said he would certainly intervene in the issue if he finds any illegality in the conduct of the elections after the defendants file their counter-affidavits. However, at the present stage, the plaintiff had not made out any case for grant of interim orders, he said.
Applicant manhandled
A group of people on Friday manhandled a prospective applicant for the posts of coordinator and co-coordinator of the AIADMK at its headquarters in Chennai.
The incident occurred when the prospective applicant, Ompodi Prasad Singh, was talking to journalists. Party sources said Mr. Singh was not given nomination papers as he did not have the “relevant documents”.
