PM 'tolerating' Jaya
CHENNAI, Dec 29 (PTI)
— Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi today
accused Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee of
‘tolerating’ the corruption committed by AIADMK
chief Jayalalitha in order to remain in power.
He told reporters here the
recent statement issued by the Prime Minister’s
Office (PMO) with regard to tackling corruption had
"shattered" his hopes that Mr Vajpayee would
uphold high standards in public life.
The PMO statement had said
that while the Centre would not tolerate corruption, it
would not allow "witch hunting" against any
individual.
He also charged the
BJP-led coalition with adopting "contradictory
stances" regarding the investigation of corruption
cases against Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and
Jayalalitha.
The Centre’s current
stand that it alone had the powers to allocate cases to
special judges in Chennai had come in handy for
Jayalalitha, who was trying her level best to delay the
judicial process for the past one year, he added.
Asked to comment on
Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee’s submission in the
Supreme Court that the Centre alone had the power to
allocate cases among the special judges, Mr Karunanidhi
said "I do not want to enter into the legality of
the question. It is for legal experts to examine the
issue. I do not want to make any comments now as the
matter is sub judice," he said.
He said the state had
already replied to the Centre’s letter on the
allocation of cases against Jayalalitha to different
special judges. However, he refused to release copies of
the letters on the plea that it was "sub
judice".
He said the Additional
Solicitor General had stated in the Madras High Court
that the state had powers to transfer cases. A Division
Bench of the Madras High Court had also upheld the
state’s action, he pointed out.
On the remarks of former
CBI Director Jogender Singh that a minister from Tamil
Nadu had forced him to register a case against
Jayalalitha on the three lakh U.S $ case, Mr Karunanidhi
said former Union Minister of State S.R. Balasubramaniam
had already explained the actual position.
The Chief Minister said
that Jayalalitha, during interrogation by CBI officials,
had admitted she did not know from where the draft had
come. She had also stated that the amount had been
deposited in her personal account on the advice of her
chartered accountant.
The Janata Party today
supported the AIADMK contention that only Centre had the
powers to allocate corruption cases among special judges
in Tamil Nadu.
Party president Dr
Subramanian Swamy told reporters here that the special
courts should forthwith stop hearing in the corruption
cases against AIADMK chief Jayalalitha and her erstwhile
ministerial colleagues and the Tamil Nadu government
should seek the Centre’s permission before
proceeding further in these cases.
Replying to a question
Swamy said the Prime Minister should intervene if the
Union Law Minister Thambi Durai did not give his
concurrence for allocation of cases to special courts.
Swamy said the Tamil Nadu
government was yet to give a "convincing
explanation" as to why it was found necessary to
transfer Jayalalitha’s cases from the Principal
Sessions Court (which was also a designated special
court) to newly appointed special courts without
obtaining Centre’s approval under Section 4 (2) of
the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Swamy also criticised the
Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) for submitting a memorandum
to the President on the appointment of special courts.
Asked if he thought the
Karunanidhi government in Tamil Nadu was trying to slow
down the cases against Jayalalitha, Swamy said he was
only saying that the state government had not handled the
law point properly. "I am going by the law
alone".
He said he fully endorsed
the AIADMK MPs submitting a memorandum to the President
seeking dismissal of the Tamil Nadu government for
allegedly usurping Centre’s powers. The President
had powers to refer the matter to the Union Cabinet to
seek its view points.
On the charges made by the
TMC that Centre was attempting to interfere with judicial
process, the Janata Party leader said the BJP-led
government at the Centre had not helped Jayalalitha at
all but instead was showing favours to the TMC by
blocking all his efforts to bring to book some TMC
leaders on corruption charges.
The Centre was yet to give
permission to the CBI to inquire into the corruption
charges made by him against a Central minister, he added.
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