'Historical judgment': O Pannerselvam hails Madras HC order on AIADMK affairs

New Delhi: AIADMK leader O Pannerselvam on Wednesday hailed the Madras High Court order maintaining status quo in the AIADMK affairs as a historical judgment.In a major setback to former Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) camp, the court today ordered status quo as of June 23 in the affairs of the party, rendering 11 July General Council meeting, which 'expelled' O Panneerselvam and picked K Palaniswami as interim chief, invalid. The court  also ordered fresh General Council meeting of the AIADMK."This is a historical judgment. We got full victory because of this judgment. If anyone comes forward to join us, we'll welcome them. AIADMK cadre's wishes came true. We will respect and act in accordance with High Court judgment," Pannerselvam said.He said there is no place for dictatorship in the party and all those who left AIADMK should rejoin."There is no place for dictatorship in party. All should unite and those who left the party must return. Sacrifice and patience are qualities a leader must possess. If needed, we'll discuss (on unison of OPS & EPS), party cadres will not change," Pannerselvam added.The decision to abolish the posts of coordinator and joint coordinator taken in the 11 July General Council meeting also stands cancelled, which effectively means Paneerselvam is back as the coordinator of AIADMK.The order was passed by Justice G Jayachandran who held that the coordinator and the joint coordinator alone shall convene the General Council meeting. He also suggested nomination of an observer to conduct the meeting.The court was passing orders on the civil suits from Panneerselvam and General Council member Vairamuthu.Later, the counsel appearing for Panneerselvam said the court has said the coordinator and Joint coordinator posts, held by OPS and Palaniswami, respectively earlier, "had not lapsed".The 23 June General Council meet, convened jointly by the two leaders earlier, had announced that the one and only demand of the GC members is to bring in a system of a single leadership for the party, favouring Palaniswami, also known as EPS.Meanwhile, the Palaniswami camp insisted it was not a setback for the former CM.Senior leader and former minister K P Munsusamy said the party high command will respond in detail after perusing the order copy of today's ruling.The general councils held on 23 June and 11 July were done properly like the days of the late Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa.All the general council members present in both meets "unanimously adopted the resolutions" at the respective sessions, he told reporters."No question arises," was his response when asked if the HC order was a setback for Palaniswami.With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.