Tamil Nadu deal closer: OPS back as CM and EPS as AIADMK chief

April 22, 2017

Chennai, Apr 22: setting the stage for a unified AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, the two rival factions in the party are said to have agreed upon a deal to reinstate rebel leader O Panneerselvam as the chief minister while current CM E K Palaniswami will take charge as the organisation’s general secretary in place of the jailed V K Sasikala.

“The merger deal has been sealed and formal talks will begin now between the senior leaders of both factions to finalise and announce the decision. Palaniswami will step down for Panneerselvam, and become the party chief. Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, whose properties were raided by Income Tax officials, may be dropped from the cabinet. Former minister and MLA Senthil Balaji may be inducted along with one or two more faces from southern Tamil Nadu,” a senior AIADMK leader told The Indian Express.

According to sources, what forced the ruling faction to give up the post of chief minister was the “vulnerable state of the government”. “A revolt by just six of the 122 MLAs currently with the ruling faction will bring down the government,” said sources, referring to the majority mark in the assembly.

Party sources said that former minister Balaji may replace Vijayabaskar in the new cabinet. On Friday, Balaji announced that he would hold a hunger strike against Vijayabaskar and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai, another key leader in the ruling faction, for their alleged role in delaying the construction of a medical college building in Karur, which was announced by the late J Jayalalithaa when she was chief minister.

Interestingly, Balaji was among those who had stayed at a resort with Chennai along with other MLAs from the ruling faction, and supported Sasikala and her nephew T T V Dinakaran. Once a trusted aide of the late Jayalalithaa, Balaji was dropped from her previous cabinet for allegedly anointing himself as her successor.

With Balaji switching sides, and a merger announcement likely by Monday, other ministers from the ruling faction have started distancing themselves from Sasikala and Dinakaran.

Commercial Taxes Minister K C Veeramani has claimed that he was “the first to raise a voice” against Sasikala and her family, and demand that their photographs should not be placed on party banners and hoardings. He said that he had demanded Dinakaran’s resignation, too, even when seniors including Palaniswami and Thambidurai had asked him to be patient.

Given the new situation, sources said that Thambidurai may be the other major loser if the chief minister’s post goes to Panneerselvam. “Vijayabaskar coordinated the entire resort episode. Thambidurai was expected to join Panneerselvam during the initial stages of the revolt but changed his mind and stood with Sasikala,” said a senior party leader.

Following the latest development, top government sources said that Chief Minister Palaniswami, who is leaving for Delhi to attend the NITI Aayog’s national meet, may be given an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. “The Chief Minister will also meet the Tamil Nadu farmers, who are protesting in Delhi, to convince them to stop the agitation,” said the official.

The first signs of a merger had emerged last Monday after Dinakaran was booked by Delhi Police for allegedly trying to bribe Election Commission officials through a middleman to obtain the party’s two-leaves poll symbol, which was frozen by the EC following claims from both sides.

Dinakaran, who was forced to step down from the post of party deputy general secretary, is scheduled to appear before Delhi Police on Monday — the same day the merger is likely to be sealed and announced.

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‘Pay the worker before his sweat dries’: Madras High Court cites Prophet Muhammad’s teaching while ordering settlement of dues

News Network

December 21,2025

Invoking the teachings of Prophet Muhammad—“pay the worker before his sweat dries”—the Madras High Court has directed a municipal corporation to settle long-pending legal dues owed to a former counsel. The court observed that this principle reflects basic fairness and applies equally to labour and service-related disputes.

Justice G. R. Swaminathan made the observation while hearing a petition filed by advocate P. Thirumalai, who claimed that the Madurai City Municipal Corporation failed to pay him legal fees amounting to ₹13.05 lakh. Earlier, the High Court had asked the corporation to consider his representation. However, a later order rejected a major portion of his claim, prompting the present petition.

The court allowed Thirumalai to approach the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and submit a list of cases in which he had appeared. It also directed the corporation to settle the verified fee bills within two months, without interest. The court noted that the petitioner had waited nearly 18 years before challenging the non-payment and that the corporation could not be fully blamed, as the fee bills were not submitted properly.

‘A Matter of Embarrassment’

Justice Swaminathan described it as a “matter of embarrassment” that the State has nearly a dozen Additional Advocate Generals. He observed that appointing too many law officers often leads to unnecessary allocation of work and frequent adjournments, as government counsel claim that senior officers are engaged elsewhere.

He expressed hope that such practices would end at least in the Madurai Bench of the High Court and added that Additional Advocate Generals should “turn a new leaf” from 2026 onwards.

‘Scandalously High Amounts’

While stating that the court cannot examine the exact fees paid to senior counsel or law officers, Justice Swaminathan stressed that good governance requires public funds to be used prudently. He expressed concern over the “scandalously high amounts” paid by government and quasi-government bodies to a few favoured law officers.

In contrast, the court noted that Thirumalai’s total claim was “a pittance” considering the large number of cases he had handled.

Background

Thirumalai served as the standing counsel for the Madurai City Municipal Corporation for more than 14 years, from 1992 to 2006. During this period, he represented the corporation in about 818 cases before the Madurai District Courts.

As the former counsel was unable to hire a clerk to obtain certified copies of judgments in all 818 cases, the court directed the District Legal Services Authority to collect the certified copies within two months. The court further ordered the corporation to bear the cost incurred by the DLSA and deduct that amount from the final settlement payable to the petitioner.

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