"Do not stir a hornet’s nest," the DMK president said, rejecting the action taken report (ATR) on the findings of the commission, which investigated the conspiracy aspect of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The commission’s final report along with the ATR was tabled in Parliament by the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, yesterday.

"The Centre’s decision is a political trickery to disturb my government at the instigation of AIADMK supremo Ms Jayalalitha and we will face it politically," Mr Karunanidhi said at a press conference here.

On the commission’s observation that he had not been interrogated by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), he said he had deposed before Justice M.C. Jain for five full days and was also cross-examined by Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress leader Vahapadi Ramamurthy and AIADMK advocate. Justice Jain had not said anything against him during the deposition, he added.

"Even now, Jain has not indicted me. The Centre’s decision is to malign me and my party. I will face it politically," Mr Karunanidhi said.

The Centre should come out with the ‘misgivings’ expressed by Justice Jain in his final report, he said and claimed that the commission had not indicted him at all in the final report.

He questioned the need for an ATR on the commission’s findings, saying the United Front Government had already placed an ATR on the interim report. (The UF’s ATR had rejected the findings in the interim report that the DMK had given tacit support to the LTTE.)

Mr Karunanidhi also rejected Ms Jayalalitha’s demand for his resignation on the issue.

The commission had not singled him out for not being interrogated by the SIT, he said and added that Justice Jain had also stated that Chandra Shekhar, T.N. Seshan, Dr Subramanian Swamy, Ms Jayalalitha and Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao were not interrogated.

The then CBI director, Mr Vijay Karan, had stated that there was no need to interrogate him (Karunanidhi).

When the commission had made no mention about him in its final report, where was the need for his interrogation by the agency, he questioned.

Asked if he would subject himself to an interrogation by a central agency, he said: "Let us cross the bridge when it comes."

When his comments were sought on the Centre’s decision to probe the Chandraswami’s and Dr Subramanian Swamy’s alleged role in the conspiracy to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi, he said, "No comments. Ask anything about me and I will reply."

Mr Karunanidhi said Dr Swamy had alleged before the commission that Ms Jayalalitha had helped LTTE volunteers to reach Sriperumbudur. "The same Swamy is her political advisor now," he said.

The Centre had set a "bad precedent" by tabling an ATR for the report when the UF government had already tabled one on it earlier.

"This will only enable any future government to revise ATRs filed by previous governments which is not good," Mr Karunanidhi said.

Earlier, the DMK’s General Council, which began its two-day sitting here, in a resolution rejected the ATR terming it as ‘politically motivated’.

The Centre’s decision to refer the "observation" on Mr Karunanidhi to the agency was purely on "an imagination that the commission had some observation," it said. The Centre’s action was "only to satisfy" somebody, it alleged.

The DMK rejected the Centre’s decision to ask the proposed multi-disciplinary monitoring agency on how to proceed further on the Jain Commission’s recommendation to interrogate Mr Karunanidhi, saying this was done under pressure from Ms Jayalalitha to save the BJP-led coalition government.

The party’s General Council, said the original ATR of the Centre had not mentioned Mr Karunanidhi’s name and alleged it was included later at the instigation of some central ministers from Tamil Nadu and under pressure from Ms Jayalalitha.

A former Union Minister and party MP, Mr T.R. Balu, said at the meeting that the Centre’s decision would only help Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins, who had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the special court verdict.

Reacting to the developments, the Janata Party president, Dr Subramanian Swamy, termed the Jain Commission report as "malafide and biased" and the Action Taken Report (ATR) "a device by the RSS to use governmental agencies to try and subdue me".

"The Jain final report has been manipulated and in the end it carries no recommendations, but the ATR has deliberately dragged me to undermine my standing in Indian politics," he told a press conference here.

Stating that the final report "does not contain a single charge against me nor recommends prosecution", Dr Swamy said he would be seeking legal remedy against the "supercilious and inane" references to him in the final report.

NEW DELHI: The suspected financial assistance to Chandraswami by any agency or individual through the now-defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) needs to be investigated, the Jain Commission has recommended.

"The material which has come before the commission raises a very strong probability of such help from some individuals or agencies," it said in its final report while raising suspicion regarding Chandraswami’s "complicity and involvement" in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination conspiracy.

"Investigation, of course, is required to be done regarding such help or assistance if at all rendered by any individual or agencies," it said.

"How these moneys were subsequently used by Chandraswami is not known as no information or record has been received by the commission regarding the user of money lying in the account of Adnan Khashoggi," it said.

Reports indicate Khashoggi had connections with the CIA and the CIA too had several accounts in the BCCI in different names.

CHENNAI, Aug 1 (PTI) — AIADMK General Secretary Jayalalitha today demanded the resignation of DMK chief M Karunanidhi from the Chief Ministership, to enable the multi-disciplinary monitoring agency (MDMA) to conduct an ''impartial investigation".

In a statement here Ms Jyalalitha also called for the filing of a first information report (FIR) against Mr Karunanidhi, in the light of 'serious' observations made against him in the Jain panel's interim report and "misgiving"' expressed in the final report.

She said Mr Karunanidhi should step down at once from the office of the Chief Minister, if an impartial investigation was to be conducted into the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

''It is not proper for Mr Karunanidhi to continue as Chief Minister after it has been decided that he should be investigated by the MDMA'' she said.

She said the Jain panel had observed that six of the accused in the EPRLF leader Padmanabha assassination case were also involved in the Rajiv assassination case. The CBI should have investigated both the cases jointly.

She pointed out that neither the then Karunanidhi government nor the central government had recommended that the CBI investigate both the cases jointly.

The Jain panel had also categorically rejected the argument of the then Special Investigation Team chief and former CBI director K Karthikeyan that focus on the Rajiv assassination case would have been diluted if the CBI had taken up joint probes.

Stating that the serious allegations made in the panel's interim report was 'still valid', Ms Jayalalitha said the interim report had charged Mr Karunanidhi and his associates of 'deep nexus' with the LTTE.

Hence the MDMA should investigate Mr Karunanidhi and he should step down for conducting this investigation impartially.