SC order staying bandh was adhered to: Karunanidhi

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi on Wednesday said the Supreme Court's order staying the bandh called by his party and allies on October 1 was adhered to though it came at the "eleventh hour."

"Based on the Supreme Court's order, the state secretariat functioned on that day and the chief minister and ministers attended to their work. Government offices functioned throughout the state and some schools and colleges also functioned," he wrote in his party organ Murasoli.

All trains were operated and there was also no disruption in air traffic. As time progressed, the situation improved and there was considerable movement of buses too, he said.

Since the Madras high court permitted the bandh with certain conditions, the constituents of Democratic Progressive Alliance were involved in preparatory work for the protest and they would not have got to know that the Supreme Court hurriedly took up the case on a Sunday on September 30 and gave an adverse ruling, he said.

Karunanidhi said even the state chief secretary received the Supreme Court's official communication only at 10.30 pm on September 30.

"There was a gap of only few hours between the pronouncement of the verdict and commencement of the bandh in the morning," he added.

He maintained that there was not enough time for the public and workers to get the news about the Supreme Court's stay.

In an apparent reference to Supreme Court Judge B N Agarwal, who made some adverse observations against the DMK government, the DMK patriarch said, "Had those who raised questions taken some time to ponder over, there would not have been room for passing strictures."