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TN will oppose Centre's move on special judges

The Tamil Nadu government will take all possible legal steps to counter the Union government's gazette notification, transferring 46 pending corruption cases against former chief minister J Jayalalitha and others from special judges to sessions judges, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi asserted today.

Talking to newspersons at the state secretariat in Madras, Karunanidhi, who appeared unruffled by the Centre's notification, said state law minister Aladi Aruna and advocates representing the state government were already in New Delhi in this connection.

Taking exception to the Centre's move, he said this was a direct outcome of the AIADMK leader's frequent threat of review of support to the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Karunanidhi pointed out that the Centre's notification came out in the open after Defence Minister George Fernandes's visit to the city to meet Jayalalitha.

He declined to reply directly when asked whether the state government proposed to challenge the notification before the Supreme Court.

Replying to a question, Karunanidhi said the notification, issued by the Union minister of personnel which came Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, could not have been released without the latter being aware of it.

In all, 46 cases of corruption were pending before the three special judges against Jayalalitha and her erstwhile cabinet colleagues in the previous AIADMK regime, besides some former officials.

Criticising the notification as "politically motivated", Karunanidhi said he could not recall any instance of the Union government trying to interfere with the judicial proceedings launched by the investigating agencies of a state government, especially in cases of corruption.

He agreed with a reporter's suggestion that the notification might amount to contempt of court as the Supreme Court had fixed the next hearing for February 15, on Jayalalitha's petition challenging the Madras high court verdict upholding the state government order appointing the special judges in April 1997. "When you are aware of this, will not the government at the Centre not be aware of this," he quipped.

Ever since the state government registered the cases and appointed special judges to hear them according to the due process of law, Jayalalitha was trying to put obstacles in order to delay the hearing and trial processes, he alleged.

"This got accentuated especially after the BJP-led government assumed power at the Centre and the AIADMK started issuing threats of review of support. The recent notification is only a climax to this process after the AIADMK refused to sign the joint statement signed by the BJP and its allies in the ruling coalition at the Centre," he added.

Karunanidhi said: "The notification has not yet reached the state government, but the AIADMK headquarters released it to the media yesterday".

"The Centre's decision rejecting the state assembly resolution, reviving the legislative council was also first released to the media. We get to know about these decisions from reading newspapers," he added ruefully.

"If these corruption cases are heard by the sessions courts in which hundreds of criminal cases are pending trial, it will take at least three years for the hearings to come up," he added.

Asked whether the issue would lead to a prolonged legal confrontation between the governments at the state and Centre, he said he did not think that vajpayee was for a confrontation with the state government. "I think he does not want Jayalalitha to go in for a confrontation with the Centre," he added.

Asked to comment on Union Power Minister Rangarajan Kumaramangalam coming to the defence of Jayalalitha, he said several Union ministers belonging to the BJP had criticised her during the last few months on various issues.

Asked about MGR-ADMK leader S Thirunavukkarasu's suggestion for a bandh to protest against the Centre's move, he said the ruling DMK had already announced that public meetings would be held in all district capitals on February 14 to explain the issue.

UNI

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