Chennai 2 Sep : A division bench of the Madras High Court on Friday annulled a single judge bench decision of 17 August in favor of the former Chief Minister O.Panneerselvam(OPS) in the leadership battle of AIADMK.Justices M.Duraiswamy and Sunder Mohan ruled in favor of appeals against the decision of a single judge G.Jayachandran’s ruling nullifying the general council meeting of July 11, when Edappadi K.Palaniswami(EPS) was elected as the party’s general secretary.This meeting also expelled Paneerselvam (OPS) out of the party.
Palaniswamy was, in his plea, declared that the single bench had ordered the status as quo of the general council meeting on June 23 at which the posts of both Panneerselvam as coordinator of the party as well as his position as joint coordinator were vacated.
He informed the division bench he had come to the bench because there was no way to collaborate with Panneerselvam.
Notably, Paneerselvam had consistently maintained that he was the coordinator of the party and that his term would last until December 2026.
Palaniswami asserted that both posts expired on June 23rd.
The sole bench of Justice G.Jayachandran had said that the resolution draft of the June 23rd meeting was not a resolution that needed the ratification of.It also ruled that any council meeting in the future be jointly convened by both leaders.
The partisans of EPS expressed their satisfaction with the bench division order, and the former Minister D.Jayakumar told IANS that justice has been done.
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