In democracy, political party can't be stopped from functioning by sealing its office, says SC

New Delhi: "In democracy, a political party cannot be stopped from functioning by sealing its office," observed the Supreme Court Monday as it dismissed the plea of ousted AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) against the Madras High Court order directing to hand over the keys of party headquarter to party chief K Palaniswami.

"Allowing sealing of the office of a political party may be misused and have wide repercussions, which will not be appropriate in a democratic setup," the top court said.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli said, "We will not interfere with the order of the High Court. You (OPS) are expelled from the party. If we allow you to enter the party office, it would be a disaster. Overall, this order of the High Court has maintained the peace, and nothing untoward has happened for the past two months."

The top court said that its order will not come in the way of other proceedings pending in other judicial forums.

It told senior advocate Ranjeet Kumar, appearing for OPS, "In democracy, a political party cannot be stopped from functioning by sealing its office. One should allow democracy to function. Your client (OPS) is expelled, now let the party function. You can avail of other legal remedies and file a suit to establish your right.

If you succeed, then you have a valid point." The top court was hearing a plea of OPS challenging an order of July 20 of the Madras High Court, which had set aside the proceedings of the Tamil Nadu Revenue department locking and sealing of the AIADMK headquarters, following the July 11 violence and directed that the keys of the office be handed over to party chief K Palaniswami.

At the outset, Kumar said that the High Court ought to have remanded the matter back for proper consideration.

The bench said that the High Court has correctly said that the jurisdictional requirement of (a sub-divisional magistrate) for the exercise of power was found to be absent.

It said, "Allowing sealing of the office of a political party, may be misused and have wide repercussions, which will not be appropriate in a democratic setup. For a magistrate to attach the office of a political party is extraordinary. This means that you do not want a political party to function in a democracy."

Kumar said that there was a clash between two factions of the party workers and the magistrate relied on the photographs of the violence, after which it was sealed. The bench said that then how the property became disputed. Kumar replied that both the factions wanted to enter the property leading to clashes between the supporters. The top court after perusing the documents said that the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO)/Executive Magistrate order is silent about the dispute over the building.

"The two factions may clash outside the party office but one cannot just go and seal the office. This is in no way justified," it said, adding that the High Court order was passed on July 20 and now it is September. It said that for two months, this order of the High Court has brought peace, "let it be there," and "You can avail your remedy under the law."

On July 20, the High Court quashed the proceedings, while passing orders on the criminal original petitions from Palaniswami, the then party's interim general secretary.

It had directed the RDO/Executive Magistrate to remove the seal and hand over the keys to Palaniswami immediately and asked the Royapettah police to provide adequate protection to the office, round the clock, located on Avvai Shanmugam Salai.