The Madras High Court has placed a temporary injunction on O Paneerselvam (OPS), the ousted AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, restraining him from using the party’s name, flag, symbol, and letterhead. This legal move, allowed by Justice N Satish Kumar, comes after a plea for an interim injunction was filed by the party’s General Secretary, Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS).
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Despite attempts by OPS’s counsel, Advocate Rajalakshmi, to delay the injunction by informing the court that OPS had moved the Supreme Court challenging his expulsion and the appointment of EPS as the General Secretary, the court proceeded with the injunction. Justice Kumar noted,
“OPS had failed to obtain a favorable order so far.”
EPS’s legal action claimed that OPS continued to falsely claim himself as the coordinator of the AIADMK, even after his expulsion. EPS informed the court that
“the High Court had already upheld OPS’s expulsion from the party and even the Election Commission had recognized EPS to be the General Secretary of the party.”
This, EPS argued, led to confusion among the party cadres as OPS portrayed himself to be the party coordinator, using the party’s name, symbol, flag, etc.
Senior Advocate Vijay Narayan, representing EPS, highlighted that OPS had been granted time until October 6 to file a counter-affidavit but had failed to do so. With the Lok Sabha elections on the horizon, Narayan urged the court to grant an interim injunction, which the court accepted, setting the matter for further hearing on November 30.
On the other side, Advocate P Rajalakshmi, representing OPS, requested the court for more time. She stated,
“OPS had filed an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging a previous order of the High Court refusing to interfere with his expulsion from the party.”
She informed the court that
“the appeal had been numbered and was expected to be taken up for hearing anytime.”
However, Justice Kumar decided to grant the interim injunction, observing that OPS had not obtained favorable orders in the ongoing litigation over the AIADMK leadership. The court added,
“If the apex court ended up staying the order, the present order of injunction will anyway lose effect.”
The case, Edappadi Palaniswami v O Paneerselvam (Case No: OA 787 of 2023 And CS 181 of 2023), is a significant development in the AIADMK’s internal power struggle, with the court’s recent order temporarily preventing OPS from associating with the party’s official symbols and paraphernalia.
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