Will take a call on AIADMK’s ‘Two Leaves’ symbol in four weeks, Election Commission tells Madras HC

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday (December 4, 2024) informed the Madras High Court that it shall take a decision within four weeks on a plea made by an individual not to allot the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol to candidates proposed by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday (December 4, 2024) informed the Madras High Court that it shall take a decision within four weeks on a plea made by an individual not to allot the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol to candidates proposed by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

A Division Bench of Justices R. Subramanian and C. Kumarappan recorded the submission of ECI standing counsel Niranjan Rajagopalan that it had served notice upon the AIADMK, pursuant to the receipt of the representation from S. Surya Moorthi of Dindigul, who claimed to be a member of the party, on February 12, 2024.

The AIADMK had submitted its response to the notice and therefore, the commission would take a decision on the issue within an outer limit of four weeks, the counsel told the court. The judges recorded his submission and disposed of a writ petition filed by the individual seeking a direction to the ECI to consider his representation.

When senior counsel P.H. Arvindh Pandian, representing expelled AIADMK leader O. Panneerselvam, said no notice had been issued to him though he was the most important party involved in the party leadership dispute, the judges ordered that the commission should hear all parties concerned before arriving at a conclusion on the issue.

Earlier, when the judges wanted to know what more was left to be decided when the High Court had passed certain orders with respect to the party leadership and it had also been confirmed by the Supreme Court, Mr. Rajagopalan said, only interim orders had been passed so far and that the main civil suits were still pending in the High Court.

It was brought to the notice of the Division Bench that though multiple civil suits had been filed in the High Court challenging the conduct of the party’s general council as well as the resolutions passed in the council meetings, so far, only interim applications had been disposed of and the orders passed in those applications had been dealt with by the Supreme Court.

Insofar as the present writ petition filed before the conduct of the Parliamentary elections in April this year is concerned, “the commission has instructed me that they have issued notice to AIADMK and a reply has also been received. They will finally decide the representation within an outer limit of four weeks,” Mr. Rajagopalan told the court.