AIADMK memo to President
Dismissal of TN Govt sought

NEW DELHI, Dec 25 (PTI) — The controversy over the constitution of special courts to try Ms Jayalalitha hotted up today with AIADMK MPs urging the President to dismiss the Karunanidhi government for "usurping" the powers of the Centre by setting up special courts for trying Ms Jayalalitha and others.

In a memorandum to President K R Narayanan, they also sought a "full-scale investigation" into the corruption and misdeeds of TMC leader G K Moopanar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, their relatives as also other DMK and TMC leaders.

The memorandum signed by AIADMK members from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha was submitted by Union Minister M Thambi Durai to an official of Rashtrapati Bhavan, two days after Mr Moopanar wrote to the President, justifying the DMK government’s decision to set up special courts to try corruption cases against Ms Jayalalitha.

Urging the President to direct the Centre to dismiss the Tamil Nadu Government, the AIADMK MPs said the TMC was attempting to justify the "usurption of power of the Central Government by the state government."

"The DMK government is using the TMC to shield itself and to fire from their shoulder in attempting to justify the usurption of the exclusive powers of the Centre," they said.

In the memorandum, the AIADMK MPs, including Union Ministers Thambi Durai and K M R Janarthanan charged the TMC leader with attempting to "mislead" the President.

"Not only has the correct factual position been suppressed, but an attempt has been made to place wrong and misleading facts before you", they said.

Quoting extensively from the application filed by the Centre before the Supreme Court on the issue, they said in the application the Central Government had abundantly made it clear that a power which could have been exercised by the Centre, had been exercised by the state while issuing the notification on setting up the special courts in Chennai.

They told the President that "deliberate and motivated publicity was being given to certain vindictive criminal prosecution launched by the DMK government against several AIADMK leaders and a systematic campaign launched by the DMK and TMC leaders to vitiate the atmosphere for a fair trial".

The AIADMK MPs said the DMK and TMC made "concerted attempts to foist false cases" against AIADMK leaders who held various offices during the time the party was in power from 1991 to 1996.

Stating that the AIADMK leaders were not afraid to face trial, the memorandum said the party leaders were attending the court of the Principal Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge before whom the cases were pending.

"Even today, the AIADMK leaders are not afraid to face trial before the Special Judge in whose courts their cases were originally pending", they said.

The memorandum said "a most shocking development" took place on April 30 last year when the state government sought to transfer the cases from the Principal Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge to the three newly appointed Special Judges.

In this regard, the AIADMK MPs alleged that the previous United Front Government which was in office at the Centre, and the TMC nominee who headed the Ministry of Personnel "deliberately supported the move by turning a blind eye to a serious constitutional issue".

The MPs described as "totally incorrect" the TMC view that the three Special Judges were appointed to try "a group of cases" saying the state government had sought to transfer those "live and pending" cases from the court of the Principal Special Judge to the new Judges.

Mr Moopanar in his letter to the President earlier on the issue had condemned the "threatened interference" by the Centre in the judicial process and urged him to advise the BJP-led government against any "illegal act" aimed at saving itself from being destabilised by an "angry alliance partner".