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The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the petition of former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu O Panneerselvam against the judgment of the Madras High Court division bench on 2 September. The division bench of Madras High Court has set aside the order of the single bench judge quashing the results of the meeting of the AIADMK general council of 11 July in which the party chose Edappadi K Palaniswami as the single leader of the party.
The general council meeting held on 11 July passed a resolution appointing Edappadi K Palaniswami as the general secretary of the party and abolished the dual leadership structure of the party. Earlier both Palaniswami and Panneerselvam used to head the party as coordinator and co-coordinator.
The single judge bench of Madras High Court on 17 August nullified the general council meeting held on 11 July and asked the coordinator and co-coordinator of the party to hold a fresh general council meeting in presence of a commissioner to oversee the event.
Justice J Jayachandran also asserted that the meeting of the general council can only be called jointly by the coordinator and co-coordinator of the party.
The division bench of Madras High Court pointed out that the order of the single bench judge has triggered a “functional deadlock" within the party as there seems to be no chance that Palaniswami and Panneerselvam will work together.
“By giving the direction that there shall be no executive council meeting or general council meeting without the joint consent of coordinator and co-coordinator, a situation has arisen where the party, as a whole, will go through irreparable hardship, since there is no possibility of EPS and OPS acting jointly to convene the meeting, much less a general council meeting to discuss single leadership," the 127-page judgment said.
The AIADMK is under constant leadership crisis after the death of former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and party stalwart J. Jayalalithaa in 2016. The tussle between Palaniswami and Panneerselvam also led to a stunning defeat for the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 2021 assembly polls.