In a huge win for former Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the order of the Madras High Court allowing him to continue as the interim general secretary of the AIADMK.
The verdict has come as a huge blow to O Paneerselvam, whose petition was dismissed by the court. The apex court also made absolute its interim order passed on July 6, 2022, staying the Madras High Court order dated June 23, 2022, which restrained the AIADMK General Council from passing any resolutions.
"We have upheld the order of the Division Bench of the High Court dated September 2, 2022 and made our earlier interim order permanent. We have not dealt with the matter of resolutions before the party that were being heard by the single judge. We leave it open for the said resolutions to be dealt with in accordance in law, the bench said.
A bench of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy had reserved judgment on the matter on January 12. The judgement came on a batch of pleas concerning amendments made to the party bylaws during the July 11, 2022, general council meeting which elected Palaniswami, or EPS as he is known, as its single leader while expelling his rival Panneerselvam and some of his aides.
In Chennai, celebrations broke out at the AIADMK headquarters here after news of the Supreme Court ruling came in. Amid increased police presence at MGR Maaligai, the headquarters of the AIADMK, EPS supporters burst crackers and poured milk on a cutout of him.
