Petition dismissed
The Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by PMK founder S. Ramadoss seeking to freeze the party’s “mango” election symbol until a pending civil dispute within the party is decided.
Background of the dispute
The plea arose amid an internal rift between Ramadoss and his son, Anbumani. A civil court had earlier, on March 26, rejected a similar request to keep the symbol in abeyance until the civil case concludes.
Proceedings before higher courts
After the civil court’s order, Ramadoss approached the Supreme Court, which directed him to move the Madras High Court. When the matter was mentioned for urgent hearing, the High Court indicated it would be taken up if filed as a petition, but later declined to treat it as an urgent case.
Arguments and court’s decision
During Thursday’s hearing, the Election Commission’s counsel argued the petition was not maintainable as candidates had been finalised and symbols allotted. Anbumani’s side submitted that candidates aligned with Ramadoss had been allotted the “cylinder” symbol and had accepted it, adding that there was no action against the father. Another party representative, Vadivel Ravanan, alleged Ramadoss had declared himself president without convening the general council, while Ramadoss’ side maintained he had been chosen as president by the executive committee and moved court as the Election Commission had not considered their representation. The High Court ultimately dismissed the petition seeking to freeze the mango symbol.
