The Madras High Court has allowed the withdrawal of civil suits filed against the 2022 AIADMK general council meeting and the party’s disciplinary actions that followed it. With the permission granted, the court ordered that the matters be closed.
AIADMK split into two factions in 2022—one led by Edappadi K Palaniswami and the other by O Panneerselvam. The party’s general council was convened on July 11, 2022, and a plea seeking to restrain the meeting was earlier not accepted by the High Court.
At the general council, resolutions were passed to abolish the posts of coordinator and joint coordinator and to create the post of general secretary. A special resolution also expelled O Panneerselvam, Manoj Pandian, Vaithilingam and J C D Prabhakar, leading to cases filed by the four that were pending before the court.
The petitioners later submitted letters to the High Court registry seeking permission to withdraw their cases. When the matters came up before Justice K Kumaresh Babu, the court permitted the withdrawal and disposed of the cases.
In a related development, the court also allowed the withdrawal of a suit filed by Palaniswami seeking to restrain Panneerselvam’s side from using the party flag and symbol, and closed that case as well.
