CHENNAI, JULY 20
In round two of the supremacy battle over the control of AIADMK, party’s interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) got a fillip on Wednesday.
With the Madras High Court directing the Tamil Nadu revenue department to hand over the keys of the sealed AIADMK headquarters in Royapettah here to Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), the OPS camp got a jolt.
The court directed the government to remove the seal and also asked the police to provide adequate protection to the office.
It also directed EPS not to allow party members or cadres into the headquarters for a month to avoid any untoward incidents.
Justice N Sathish Kumar was passing orders on the criminal original petitions from Palaniswami, the party’s interim general secretary and ousted leader O Panneerselvam (OPS).
The court dismissed Panneerselvam’s plea for granting possession of the party headquarters, ‘MGR Maaligai,’ to him.
The Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) had sealed the premises following violent clash that broke out between supporters of Palaniswami and Panneerselvam on 11 July, when an AIADMK General Council, its highest decision-making body, picked the former as its interim general secretary, squeezing out OPS.
Immediately after the HC order, EPS supporters distributed sweets and celebrated the event.
