CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has dismissed the petitions seeking a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to reconsider its decision to acknowledge the amendment made to the bylaws governing election of the AIADMK general secretary.
When the petitions came up for hearing, the division bench of Justices R Subramanian and C Kumarappan remarked that they were filed only for publicity purposes and not out of public interest.
The petitions were filed in the court by advocate B Ram Kumar Adityan and SN Soren Palanisamy. They alleged that the amendments made in the party’s constitution at the July 11, 2022 general council setting a new criteria for eligibility for contesting the election to the post of general secretary in the party is illegal and unconstitutional.
They also said as per the new eligibility criteria, a person contesting the election to the post of general secretary should be a member of the party for 10 years continuously, must have served at least five consecutive years in the leadership positions and the nominations should be proposed and seconded by ten district secretaries each.
This criteria has deprived the voting and contesting rights of the primary members for the top post of the party, they alleged.