TTV Dhinakaran, who heads a faction of the AIADMK, is an Independent MLA from R K Nagar (Express Photo/Tashi Tobgyal/File)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday kept in abeyance the Delhi High Court’s order allotting a pressure cooker symbol to TTV Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) party. Dhinakaran, who heads a faction of the AIADMK, is an Independent MLA from R K Nagar. The SC bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar, directed the Acting Chief Justice of the HC to constitute a two-judge Division Bench to hear the matter and decide on the dispute between the AIADMK factions by the end of April.
The Delhi High Court, on March 9, had directed the Election Commission to allot a common symbol and a name to Dhinakaran’s faction, after the sidelined AIADMK leader sought the same to campaign for elections to local bodies or any other polls held.
The factions of the AIADMK, one led by Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami and his deputy, O Panneerselvam and the other by Dhinakaran and Sasikala Natarajan, have sought the party’s “two-leaves” symbol. The Election Commission, in November last year, allotted the symbol to the faction led by the CM after recognising that it enjoyed majority support.
Dhinakaran had moved the court against this verdict.