CHENNAI: In a shot in the arm for AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami, the Madras High Court on Thursday set aside a civil court’s order regarding a petition filed in that court challenging Palaniswami’s election as the party’s general secretary in 2022.
The court also rejected the petition filed in the civil court by Suriyamoorthy of Dindigul, who claimed to be a member of the AIADMK, challenging Palaniswami’s election as general secretary by the members of the AIADMK general council instead of all the primary members of the party.
Justice PB Balaji, who passed the order to allow the civil revision petition filed by EPS challenging the civil court’s order, rejected Suriyamoorthy’s plaint, stating that he did not have the locus to file the plea since he was no longer an AIADMK member.
The fourth assistant city civil court, Chennai, in an order dated July 31, 2025, had dismissed the application filed by Palaniswami, praying for the rejection of Suriyamoorthy’s plaint.
Disapproving of the contentions of Palaniswami that the plaintiff was no longer a member of the party and he had violated the party’s rules by contesting on behalf of another party, MGR Makkal Katchi, against him in Edappadi constituency in the 2021 Assembly polls, the civil court said whether he continued as a member of the party or not shall be decided during the trial of the plaint and not as part of the rejection application filed by Palaniswami.Justice Balaji overturned the civil court’s findings.
Perusing the documents on Suriyamoorthy’s nomination papers and the affidavit, the judge held that he had invited forfeiture of his membership in terms of Rule 5 (ii) of the bylaws because he had shifted allegiance from the AIADMK to MGR Makkal Katchi as he had contested on behalf of the latter in the 2021 elections.
Further, he noted that a proper and harmonious reading of the party rules clearly indicated that the membership is valid only for a period of five years and the bylaws require a fresh application to be made for renewal at the end of the five-year period, along with a payment of `10.
“Admittedly, this has not been done by the plaintiff in the instant case, and his subsequent conduct, after a lapse of three years, in contesting the 2021 elections as a candidate of MGR Makkal Katchi clearly goes to show that he has no longer treated himself as a member of the AIADMK,” Justice Balaji said. The judge ruled that Suriyamoorthy has no locus standi to file the suit as he was not a member of the AIADMK after 2018 as his membership had expired after a lapse of five years from 2013.