Chennai, July 20 (BPNS)

The Madras High Court on Wednesday quashed the order or the Executive magistrate to lock up the AIADMK headquarters and instead ordered to hand over the keys of the building to the party interim general secretary, Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

The South Chennai Revenue Divisional Officer (RD0) had on July 11, locked and sealed the party headquarters following clashes between the supporters of Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam, and bottles and stones were hurled against each other.

Justice P. N. Satish Kumar of the Madras High Court quashed the orders of the South Chennai Revenue Divisional Officer as the executive magistrate under Sections 145(1) and 146 of the CrPc.

Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam had filed appeals in the Madras High Court against the locking of the party headquarters by the RDO.

The AIADMK interim general secretary had in his petition contended that the people who had accompanied O. Panneerselvam when he and his supporters had stormed into the building were not even party cadres. He said that the Chennai police had also supported the actions of Panneerselvam and his cadres and said that the whole incidents at the AIADMK headquarters on July 11 were pre-mediated.

He also said that the order of the RDO , K. Sai Vardini in her capacity as the Executive Magistrate under Section 145(1) was served on him at around 6.30 pm on Monday, July 11. He said that there was no dispute over the ownership of the party headquarters which does not belong to an individual but to the party.

In his petition, Edappadi K. Palaniswami said that he was elected the interim general secretary of the party in a meeting convened legally on the basis of orders passed by the Madras High Court as well as the Supreme Court of India. The AIADMK leader said that he was fully entitled to possession of the building and that the action of the RDO was totally outrageous.