The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered status quo as on June 23, on the pleas against the crucial July 11 General Council meet of AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, ruling as invalid a set of resolutions including expulsion of O Panneerselvam (OPS) from the party and the elevation of his rival K Palaniswami as the party’s interim general secretary. The court directed the respective groups headed by rival Panneerselvam and Palaniswami, also known as EPS to maintain status-quo as on June 23, when another GC meet was held here.
Justice G Jayachandran, who gave the direction while disposing of two applications arising out of the main civil suits from OPS and general council member P Vairamuthu, also held there shall be no executive council meeting or general council meeting without the joint consent of the Co-ordinator (OPS) and Joint Co-ordinator EPS. There shall be no impediment for the duo to convene the GC meeting jointly to decide the affairs of the party, including making amendments to the party constitution to restore single leadership. If a proper representation from not less than one fifth members of the total strength of the GC is received, the two shall not refuse to convene the meeting. The meeting, on such requisition, shall be convened within 30 days from the date of receipt of the requisition and shall be held after giving a 15 days notice in writing. In case, the duo is of the opinion that for any reason further direction is required for conducting the GC meeting or need the assistance of a Commissioner for conducting the same, it is open for them to approach this Court and seek necessary relief.
The judge issued the set of directions, after holding the July 11 GC meeting as invalid and the resolutions adopted therein also as not valid. The resolutions included abolition of the co-ordinator and joint co-ordinator posts, expulsion of OPS from the post of treasurer and from the primary membership of the party, appointment of Tamil Magan Hussain as the permanent presidium chairman and EPS’ appointment as interim general secretary of the party. This order rendered all these decisions invalid.
In his 75-page judgment, Justice Jayachandran, after going through the party constitution and byelaws, observed that the July 11 GC meeting was not convened by a person competent to do so. It was not convened after providing 15 days notice. The contention that the post of co-ordinator and joint co-ordinator lapsed after June 23, was borne out of imagination. The reason to claim the posts fell vacant after June 23 was baseless. It was invented to suit their convenience and cover up the violation of the party constitution, he said.
The judge further observed that he, while considering the prayer for injunction, was bound to apply the triple test — prima facie case, balance of convenience and irreparable injury. Undoubtedly, if injunction is not granted, EPS, who convened the GC meeting contrary to the written provisions of the party Constitution, would be in a more convenient position, since after the impugned meeting, OPS and his supporters are removed from the party’s primary membership. They could not even participate or contest in the proposed general secretary election, the judge pointed out.
The balance of convenience in the given contest must be tested from the armchair of the primary members, who are the foundation of the party and not from the leaders point of view. The plea made by the EPS and his group that the majority of the primary members in the party felt that dual leadership caused inconvenience in the administration of the party and they cried for single leadership, is not based on any quantifiable data. Particularly, when the very same dual leadership were able to run the government as Chief Minister and the deputy CM for nearly four and a half years (2017-21) successfully amid various speculations, while also managing the party.
During this period they together decided the electoral alliance, selected candidates at all levels and fought several elections. While so, how suddenly between June 20 and July 1 this year, the party with more than 1.5 crore cadre strength, decided for a change in the existing dispensation through 2,500 odd GC members and whether their views really reflected the view of the primary members, were questions need to be examined and tested. As per the party Constitution, amendments can be made, but it should be by following the due process alone. It is for the members of the party to decide about the leadership and the court cannot interfere in their decision, but if there is a patent violation of the process, there was no bar to seek remedy through the Court, the judge said.
The judge also said the notice dated July 1 calling for the GC meeting on July 11, by a person who was not authorised to do so, was void ab initio.
The judge cited the incidents during the recent local body elections. Due to the dispute between OPS and EPS, the party men at the grass roots were not able to get the recognised election symbol ‘Two Leaves’, since, they both failed to make a request to the State Election Commission jointly for allocation of the reserved symbol and the EC declined to allot the same. This was an irreparable injury as far as the partymen are concerned, the judge remarked.
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