Big boost for Edappadi Palaniswami as Madras High Court refuses to interfere with his election to AIADMK general secretary post

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami received a major boost and the party’s expelled leader, O. Panneerselvam, suffered a severe setback on Friday, with the Madras High Court refusing to interfere not only with the former’s election to his post, but also with the latter’s expulsion from primary membership of the party.

The Third Division Bench of Justices R. Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq dismissed all original side appeals preferred by Mr. Panneerselvam and three of his supporters – P.H. Manoj Pandian, R. Vaithilingam and J.C.D. Prabhakar – against the refusal of Justice K. Kumaresh Babu on March 28 to stay five crucial resolutions passed at the party’s July 11, 2022 general council meeting.

Narrating the events that unfolded after Mr. Palaniswami and Mr. Panneerselvam fell apart after the AIADMK lost the 2021 Assembly election, and the several rounds of litigation between them since then, the Bench said the result was that the functioning of one of the major political parties in the State had got mired in controversy and litigation for a long time.