One-liner: The Madras HC on Thursday imposed a cost of ₹25,000 on a PIL petitioner, who prayed for a direction to the Election Commission of India to freeze the AIADMK's Two Leaves symbol.
For publicity: The petition is filed purely for publicity, the first bench said, while dismissing the PIL from P A Joseph, who claimed himself to be the founder-president of J J Party.
Call to take action: The petition prayed for a direction to the EC to take necessary action against the rival groups of the AIADMK and freeze the Two Leaves symbol, until the disputes between Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam are solved.
Leadership issue: In his petition, Joseph made some allegations against Palaniswami vis-a-vis the party's leadership tussle, where the dominant group backing the former CM is pushing for him to take up the single leadership.
Bottom line: The petitioner had approached the court without even waiting for a week from the ECI. The petition was filed purely for cheap publicity, the bench said and dismissed it in limine (at the outset).
Source: PTI