AIADMK crisis: Supreme Court refuses urgent hearing of case to stop Sasikala as Tamil Nadu CM

The Supreme Court has refused to advance its hearing of a case that could prevent AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala from becoming the next chief minister of Tamil Nadu. According to a report in NDTV, the apex court declined to hear a petition asking it to restrain Sasikala from taking office until it rendered its verdict in a separate corruption case against her — the petition is scheduled to be heard on 17 February. [caption id=“attachment_3276104” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of VK Sasikala. Twitter[/caption] The Times of India reported that the PIL was filed on Monday by Senthil Kumar, a Chennai resident and general secretary of NGO Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, just hours after the apex court indicated it could deliver its judgment on the appeals challenging the acquittal of Jayalalithaa and Sasikala in a 19-year-old disproportionate assets (DA) case. DNA reported that in his plea to the court, Senthil gave reference to incidents of rioting and arson when a trial court in Karnataka convicted Jayalalithaa when she was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Senthil said that if Sasikala was pronounced guilty after being sworn in, there could be mass confusion and hysteria. He also requested the apex court to stop Sasikala from taking office to avoid such a scenario from unfolding. On Thursday, hours after former chief minister O Panneerselvam visited Governor Vidyasagar Rao, Sasikala met the governor for 40 minutes and staked a claim to form the government in the state. Sasikala gave him a letter presumably containing the names of MLAs who elected her as AIADMK legislature party leader and requested him to invite her to form the government. However, the governor’s response was not immediately known. At 5 pm, Panneerselvam had called on Rao and after a brief meeting told reporters that “good things will happen and dharma will triumph”. The former CM then met his supporters at his Greenways Road official residence as well. Sasikala was elected legislature party leader on 5 February, paving the way for her becoming the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Subsequently, Panneerselvam raised a banner of revolt on 7 February, along with his supporters. He currently has the support of leaders like former Ministers KP Munusamy, Natham R Viswanathan, Rajya Sabha MP V Maithreyan and a few sitting MLAs. Against the background of revolt by Panneerselvam, who has the support of a few MLAs, Sasikala has also given individual letters of support furnished by AIADMK legislators. With inputs from agencies