AIADMK Chief’s Post: The Madras High Court on Friday ordered notices to the AIADMK and V.K. Sasikala on a petition filed by expelled party Rajya Sabha member Sasikala Pushpa and her husband seeking to maintain status quo in the party against electing the electing the former as the general secretary of the party.
Sasikal Pushpa was expelled from the AIADMK on August 1. She moved to the court to prevent the party from violating the Societies Registration Act by amending rules and allowing V.K. Sasikalaa to be appointed as a general secretary of the party.
AIADMK Chief’s Post: Court asked Sasikalla to file reply by December 21
The Court has ordered V K Sasikalaa and the AIADMK to file replies by December 21. When the case came to the court in the morning and argued in the afternoon by senior advocate K M Vijayan, AIADMK’s senior counsel B Kumar questioned the locus standi of Sasikala Pushpa in interfering with inner-party affairs of the AIADMK, and pointed out that she was an expelled member.
Opposing this, Vijayan said no communication with regard to Sasikala Pushpa’s reported expulsion had been sent to the Rajya Sabha secretariat. He further said till date she continued to represent the AIADMK in the Rajya Sabha.
Mentioning media reports, as also the declaring by AIADMK spokesperson and former minister S Ponnaiyyan that Sasikalaa would be the next general secretary of the party, Sasikala Pushpa said the close aide of Jayalalithaa was not eligible for this post as her membership in the party is only four and a half years old.
Sasikala opposed and said she should have at least 5 years of membership in the party for serving the post
Citing the party bylaws, she said she should have membership in the party at least for five years. Sasikalaa was given primary membership only in March 2012, she said, adding her membership, therefore, was only four and a half years old. Any amendment in this regard would be considered as tampering with the basic structure of the party.
Vijayan said that the general council meeting could not be called this year because it required a minimum 21 days of prior notice. At the same time, B Kumar said that the AIADMK has not been registered under the Societies Registration Act; therefore its provisions would not apply to it.
According to party rule 5 (1), no member can approach any court in connection with the affairs of the party. Even Sasikalaa has not challenged her August expulsion from the party so far. He further said the representation of the people Act does not mean to interfere with internal affairs of political parties.
