In a major relief to AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, the Madras High Court on Tuesday granted an interim injunction restraining expelled leader O. Panneerselvam from claiming to be the coordinator or even a primary member of the party. It also prevented him from using the party’s official letterhead, ‘two leaves’ symbol and flag.
Justice N. Sathish Kumar granted the interim injunction till November 30 after senior counsel Vijay Narayan, representing Mr. Palaniswami, told the judge that the claim made by the expelled leader and his act of using the party letterhead, flag and symbol were creating confusion among people at a time when Parliamentary elections were on the anvil.
The senior counsel pointed out that the party’s general council had passed a special resolution on July 11, 2022 expelling Mr. Panneerselvam from primary membership due to his anti-party activities. Though the resolution was challenged, a single judge as well as a Division Bench of the High Court refused to grant any interim relief to the expelled leader.
Yet, Mr. Panneerselvam was continuing to claim that he was the AIADMK leader and using the party flag, symbol and letterhead, Mr. Narayan said, and insisted on an interim injunction. On the other hand, advocate P. Rajalakshmi, representing Mr. Panneerselvam, told the court that an appeal had been filed in the Supreme Court against the High Court’s refusal to interfere with his expulsion.
Stating that the appeal could be listed for hearing anytime, she urged Justice Kumar to grant her some more time for filing a counter-affidavit in the present interim injunction applications. However, the judge refused to accede to the request after expressing his displeasure over the counter-affidavit not having been filed despite multiple adjournments having been granted since September.
Further, referring to several rounds of litigations initiated with respect to the AIADMK leadership by arguing and re-arguing the same set of facts and questions of law, the judge said he was granting an injunction only till November 30, by when Mr. Panneerselvam could file his counter. If the Supreme Court passes any order before that, the injunction would automatically cease to exist, he added.
