The Madras High Court on Wednesday lifted its stay on the Election Commission from acting on representations seeking to freeze the “two leaves” symbol of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, The Indian Express reported.

A division bench of Justices R Subramanian and G Arul Murugan, while withdrawing the stay the court had imposed on January 9, ordered the poll panel to first confirm that a dispute existed under paragraph 15 of the 1968 Election Symbols Reservation and Allotment Order before determining which faction of the AIADMK is to be recognised.

Following the court’s directions, the faction led by former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said that the Election Commission’s role in the affairs of a political party was limited.

“The ECI has no authority to interfere in the internal matters of political parties,” The Indian Express quoted C Ve Shanmugam of the Palaniswami-led group as saying, citing past Supreme Court and the High Court rulings.

Shanmugam said that the poll panel had already accepted amendments to AIADMK’s bye-laws, giving Palaniswami the authority to sign Form A and Form B for candidates contesting elections using the party’s “two leaves” symbol. “How can the ECI now go against its own decision?” he asked.

O Panneerselvam, the leader of the rival faction, welcomed the court’s order on Wednesday.

“Several court rulings have established that the ECI has the authority to intervene in the affairs of political parties, as per the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,” Panneerselvam was quoted as saying. “The Madras High Court has reaffirmed this by vacating the stay against the ECI’s proceedings regarding the AIADMK’s internal matters.”

Tamil Nadu is expected to head for Assembly elections in the first half of 2026. The Election Commission’s ruling could have a bearing on the AIADMK.

The case

In February 2024, a person named S Surya Moorthi submitted a representation to the poll panel seeking to freeze the AIADMK’s election symbol. Moorthi had also filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking a direction to the Election Commission to consider the representation.

The writ petition was disposed of by the division bench led by Subramanian on December 4, after the Election Commission said it would decide on the representation within a month.

Subsequently, the poll panel issued notices to the AIADMK on representations made by persons who had been expelled from the party, Palaniswami’s counsel had said at an earlier hearing.

The lawyer said that the party had received notices on the representations filed by six expelled members and questioned if the Election Commission had the jurisdiction to decide on the party’s internal matters on the basis of such pleas.

The grievances raised by the expelled members would neither come under the 1950 Representation of the People Act, nor the 1968 Election Symbols Reservation and Allotment Order, Palaniswami argued.

Questioning the maintainability of the plea, the Election Commission had told the court that the petitioner appeared to have filed it presuming that the poll panel would take up matters over which it had no jurisdiction.

However, the court said that while disposing of Moorthi’s petition, it had not given the Election Commission the authority to decide on the party’s leadership dispute. It had only recorded the poll panel’s submission that the representation would be considered, according to Live Law.