Madras High Court dismisses PMK founder Ramadoss’ plea to freeze ‘mango’ symbol

Madras High Court dismisses Ramadoss' plea to freeze the 'mango' symbol in Tamil Nadu elections, confirming previous court decisions.

The Madras High Court on Friday (April 10, 2026) dismissed a civil revision petition filed by Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S. Ramadoss against the refusal of a city civil court on March 26, 2026 to order freezing of the ‘mango’ symbol during the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections 2026.

Justice T.V. Thamilselvi refused to entertain the revision petition after hearing elaborate arguments advanced by senior counsel Ashok Panigrahi for Dr. Ramadoss and senior advocates N.L. Rajah as well as Chitra Sampath for the faction led by the party founder’s estranged son R. Anbumani.

Mr. Panigrahi told the court the party founder had filed a civil suit before the city civil court along with two applications for interim relief. However, the civil court had refused to grant the interim relief on the basis of an erroneous understanding as if the plaintiff wanted the symbol to be allotted to his faction, he said.

The senior counsel said, when the Delhi High Court had recently dealt with the symbol dispute between the father and son, the Election Commission of India (ECI) had categorically told the court that “it does not recognise either Dr. Ramadoss or Dr. Anbumani as the president” of the political party concerned.

“When such is the stand taken by the ECI before the Delhi High Court, how can it allot the mango symbol to them (Dr. Anbumani faction) Milord,” he asked. He also said, the ECI had taken a stand that the factional dispute in the party would have to be decided only by a competent civil court.

Therefore, in all fairness, the plaintiff had urged the civil court to pass an interim order directing the ECI to freeze the ‘mango’ symbol in order to avoid any confusion among voters during the 2026 elections. However, the court had wrongly dealt with the case as if the plaintiff wanted the symbol allotted for his faction, he said.