CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has stepped in to halt proceedings on a suit that questioned the authority of Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) to lead the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), granting him a reprieve in an ongoing legal tussle over party leadership.

Justice PB Balaji, hearing a civil revision petition filed by the AIADMK general secretary, issued an interim stay on a July 31 order of the IV Assistant City Civil Court in Chennai.

The lower court had refused to dismiss a 2022 suit filed by former party member S Suriyamoorthy, who sought to challenge EPS’s leadership on the grounds of alleged violation of party bylaws.

Appearing for Palaniswami, senior counsel Vijay Narayan, assisted by K Gowtham Kumar, argued that Suriyamoorthy had no standing to maintain the suit since he had ceased to be a member of the AIADMK.

The counsel pointed out that he had contested the 2021 Assembly elections in Edappadi constituency as a candidate of the MGR Makkal Katchi (MMK), which, they contended, shows that he had severed his ties.