Madras High Court Rejects VK Sasikala's Plea Against Removal From Post Of AIADMK General Secretary

Justice R Subramanian and Justice N Senthilkumar rejected Sasikala's appeal to be recognised as the interim General Secretary of the party.

Sasikala was appointed as the interim General Secretary of the party in December 2016, after the death of former Chief Minister and then General Secretary of the party J Jayalalitha. However, following her conviction and imprisonment in February 2017 in a disproportionate assets case, disputes arose in the party.

Following this, a general council meeting was held and the council decided to remove Sasikala as the interim General Secretary of the party. The council instead created two new posts- Coordinator and Joint Coordinator and appointed O Paneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami to these posts respectively.

This decision of the party was challenged by Sasikala before the City Civil Court. At the same time, Paneerselvam and Palaniswami moved applications to reject Sasikala's plaint which was allowed by the court.

Sasikala challenged her removal by contending that the general council meeting was convened without following the by-laws of the party. She also submitted that the posts of Coordinator and Joint Coordinator were not provided for under the bylaws and thus were unlawful.

On the other hand, Edappadi Palaniswami, on behalf of AIADMK submitted that Sasikala's removal from the party was done by following the due procedure. It was also submitted that the legality of the conduct of the General Council meeting had already been upheld by the High Court and the Supreme Court, which also upheld Palaniswami's appointment as the General Secretary of the party.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 382

Case Title: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Another v All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Others

Case No: AS 337 of 2022