CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday reserved orders on a petition seeking action against AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Chief Minister MK Stalin and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin during an election campaign.
The petition was filed by former AIADMK leader and founder of Puratchi AIADMK V Pugazhendi, who urged the Election Commission of India to debar Palaniswami from campaigning.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan said they will consider the prayer. Initially it questioned how the court can stop a person from speaking and the maintainability of the petition since the petitioner is not personally aggrieved by the comments.
Advocate R Thirumoorthy, appearing for the petitioner, explained in detail how the writ petition is maintainable and the former CM is bound by the provisions of the Representation of the People Act and the Model Code of Conduct. He said criticism shall be made only based on the policies and programmes but not on personal matters.