Madras HC recalls interim relief granted to Palaniswami in AIADMK leadership case

Chennai, Aug 21
In a setback to AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, the Madras High Court on Thursday recalled the interim relief it had granted him two days earlier in a case questioning his authority to head the party.

The order was withdrawn after it emerged that a caveat filed by the plaintiff had not been considered when the stay was issued.

Justice P.B. Balaji said the interim order, issued on Tuesday (August 19), was being recalled since a caveat filed by the plaintiff, S. Suriyamoorthy, had not been brought to his attention at the time of passing the order.

Under the caveat, the plaintiff had sought that no order be passed without giving him an opportunity to be heard.

The oversight came to light when Palaniswami’s counsel himself pointed it out during Thursday’s proceedings.

The court then recorded the submission of the plaintiff’s counsel, M. Velmurugan, who expressed readiness to argue the matter on Monday (August 25).

Justice Balaji therefore posted the case for hearing next week, when he will decide on whether to grant an interim stay of the civil court proceedings after hearing both sides.

The legal battle stems from a suit filed in 2022 by Suriyamoorthy before the IV Assistant City Civil Court in Chennai. He alleged that Palaniswami was functioning as AIADMK general secretary in violation of the party’s bylaws.

In response, Palaniswami argued that the case should be dismissed outright since the plaintiff was no longer a member of the party.

However, on July 31 this year, civil court judge K. Sivasakthivel Kannan dismissed Palaniswami’s plea to reject the suit at the threshold.

The judge ruled that the question of whether Suriyamoorthy had the right to challenge the leadership could not be decided summarily and that the suit merited examination on its merits.

Challenging this order, Palaniswami moved the High Court with a revision petition, seeking to quash the civil court’s refusal and to stay further proceedings.

With Thursday’s recall of the interim order, the stage is now set for a fresh round of arguments next week that could have a decisive bearing on the leadership tussle within the AIADMK.