In yet another legal setback for ADMK's Chief Coordinator O Panneerselvam, the Madras High Court on Monday - July 11 refused to ban the party's General Council meeting that has been scheduled to be held on the same day. The nail-biting verdict has come at around 9 am when the meeting has been scheduled at 9.15 am, with several ADMK cadres had arrived in the venue hall in Vanagaram, Chennai. 

The party has been witnessing a high-level battle between O Panneerselvam (OPS) and his friend-turned-foe Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS), who is the party's Joint Coordinator crafting the plan to become ADMK's General Secretary by curbing the powers of OPS in the party. Both the factions have been locking horns for the past few weeks both legally and politically. EPS has been committed to becoming General Secretary while OPS has been putting hurdles before the former with the view of breaking his elevation and not losing his command in the party.

The party has earlier convened the General Council meeting on June 23 only to fuel the political turmoil as, while it was expected that EPS could become the General Secretary, the party concluded the meeting by passing no resolutions owing to the high court's earlier judgment of curbing the party from discussing the unitary leadership. It is pertinent to recall the visuals of the meeting where OPS was humiliated by the EPS supporters and the magnitude of the tussle was clearly visible. 

In June 23 meeting, it was announced that the next General Council meeting would be held on July 11 at the same venue in Vanagaram. It has been said that EPS will take over the party's baton completely in this meeting by gaining major support from the cadres, MLAs, MPs, and the party's district secretaries. However, on the other hand, OPS vowed to block the meeting after which both factions knocked on the doors of the judiciary. 

After the marathon hearings, the Madras High Court has last week announced that it will dictate its judgement on whether or not the party go ahead with the key meeting on July 11, the same day when ADMK has planned to roll out the meeting. The announcement has spurred debates with the party cadres are left to endure tensions till the last minute. The court has said that it will pronounce the verdict at 9 am on July 11 while the meeting was scheduled at 9.15 am. 

While the scores of ADMK cadres had arrived at the venue hall on Monday, all eyes were on the Madras High Court for the judgment and there were several speculations that the court will stay away from banning the meeting as it was party's internal matter. Echoing the same, the Madras High Court has on Monday pronounced the judgement in which it refused to intervene in the internal matter of the party and gave its nod for the party to go ahead with the General Council meeting, which has become a major setback for OPS. 

Dismissing the plea moved by OPS, the High Court bench headed by Justice Krishnan Ramasamy said that there is no objection from the court to conducting the General Council meeting. OPS has argued that no proper notice was served as mandated by the party bylaws and no authorised person has signed the notice for the meeting. As OPS is the Chief Coordinator of the party, he said that he hasn't given his approval for the meeting and pleaded with the court to ban the meeting. 

However, arguing for EPS, advocate Vijay Narayan said that it was not the notice but an invitation to attend the meeting. He further said that it would not be appropriate for the high court to stay the meeting based on the Supreme Court's judgement. After noting the heated arguments, the court has reserved the judgement for Monday and it has now unveiled its order, awarding relief to EPS to conduct the meeting which will sow the path for his political elevation. With the nod, EPS has planned to pass the resolution of becoming ADMK's General Secretary.