The Madurai bench of Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the bank officials to hand over the golden armour of the statue of freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar to the Ramanathapuram district revenue officer ahead of the annual 'Thevar Jayanthi' celebrations on October 30.
The golden shield was gifted by late chief minister J Jayalalithaa on behalf of the AIADMK in 2014. Members of the Thevar community conduct grand celebrations of the leader every year. The statue in his native village is adorned with the golden armour annually during his birth anniversary celebrations.
After hearing the petition filed by AIADMK treasurer Dindigul C Srinivasan seeking the court's direction to take the shield to Pasumpon village for 'Thevar Jayanthi' celebrations, Justice Bhavani Subbaroyan ordered the bank to hand over the armour to the DRO who would take action to adorn the same on the statue.
The AIADMK is going through a leadership tussle with party interim chief K Palaniswami and former chief minister O Panneerselvam locked in a legal fight over who heads the party.
The advocate of the faction headed by O Paneerselvam contended that the treasurer cannot be directed to take the shield from the bank when the coordinator and joint coordinator alone were entitled to take it as per AIADMK party bylaws.
The case regarding the status of coordinator and joint coordinator posts in AIADMK is pending before the Supreme Court. The Election Commission had not recognised the appointment of Srinivasan as coordinator of the party.
Srinivasan's lawyer submitted that the party treasurer and those who were in charge of the 'Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar Memorial' would sign on behalf of the party in the bank and take the armour from the bank locker.
The advocate argued that Panneerselvam was trying to take away the shield from the bank and stated that the apex court had upheld his removal from the party.
He sought court directions to take the armour from the bank to the memorial for adorning the statue on October 30.
-With PTI Input
