The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, July 8, 2001,
Chandigarh, India

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TN to probe police excesses

Chennai, July 7
In an apparent response to the Centre’s “warning” on the arrest episode of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and two Union ministers, the Tamil Nadu Government today ordered a one-man commission of inquiry to probe the alleged police excesses during the arrests.

The commission headed by a retired judge of the Madras High Court, Justice A. Raman, would give its report within three months to the state government, an official release said here.

The terms of reference of the inquiry commission would be to probe if there were any excesses on the part of the police while effecting the arrest of Mr Karunanidhi in connection with a case registered with CB CID headquarters in the Rs 12 crore ‘flyover’ scam and the arrest of Union Ministers Murasoli Maran and T. R. Baalu on June 30, until their judicial remand.

Appointed under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, it would also probe the incidents that led to the arrest of Mr Maran and Mr Baalu, besides inquiring whether any police personnel were physically assaulted and obstructed from discharging their ‘legitimate duties’ during Mr Karunanidhi’s arrest. It would also go into details such as whether there were any lapses on the part of the police and, if so, to suggest action against such erring police personnel.

Meanwhile, senior DMK leader and Union Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran today met Union Home Minister L. K. Advani and apprised him of the situation in Tamil Nadu.

Mr Maran, however, refused to say what transpired during the meeting.

The senior DMK leader is understood to have discussed with the Home Minister the threats reportedly being faced by Chennai Principal Sessions Judge Ashok Kumar, who is dealing with flyover scam case.

Asked to comment on reports that he might even quit to his Cabinet berth to initiate legal proceedings against the Tamil Nadu police, he said he was consulting lawyers. PTI

PMK quits AIADMK alliance in TN

Kattankulathur (Tamil Nadu), July 7
The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) today formally announced snapping of ties with the Secular Front led by the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.

In a brief interaction with reporters here in the midst of the party’s training programme for MPs and MLAs, the party founder, Dr S. Ramadoss, said the question of his party joining the NDA would soon be decided by the party’s executive.

Dr Ramadoss, who had been peeved by Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha’s refusal to concede a Rajya Sabha seat to the party in favour of his son Dr Ambumani, said the PMK was forced to leave the front as it was treated “shabbily” by the ruling party.

Sources in the BJP said the PMK was likely to join the Vajpayee-led NDA government at the Centre. It has five members in the Lok Sabha.

The party, which had two ministers in the Vajpayee government, left the NDA more than two months ago, saying that the DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu was trying to destroy the party. The PMK had also maintained that the party would not be part of a front which had the TRC, led by Mr Vazhapadi K. Ramamurthy, as a constituent.

As the May 10 elections approached, the PMK joined hands with the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, which swept to power in the state with a thumping majority.

In neighbouring Pondicherry, the PMK had dreamt of capturing power with the AIADMK support, but drew a blank.

Going by Dr Ramadoss’s accounts, Ms Jayalalitha, after winning the elections, disregarded the PMK and even kept him waiting for an appointment with her.

An indication that the PMK might leave the Secular Front came after the June 30 arrest of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and two union ministers, when Dr Ramadoss launched a frontal attack on the AIADMK government for the manner in which the arrests were carried out.

He later called on Mr Karunanidhi in jail and expressed solidarity with him. The meeting invited the attention of the media, which construed it as a subtle effort to pre-empt any opposition from the DMK against his party’s plans to join the NDA.

In the 1998 Lok Sabha poll, the PMK was part of the AIADMK-led front, which was then a constituent of the BJP-led NDA.

The PMK continued to be in the NDA even after the AIADMK snapped ties with the alliance, and fought the 1999 Lok Sabha elections as a constituent of the NDA.

However, the PMK later developed differences with the DMK. The continuance of the TRC in the NDA was cited as one of the reasons for the party eventually quitting the NDA.

The TRC also quit the NDA, but is yet to join by other front.

Dr Ramadoss, whose party draws its power from the Vanniyar community, had said he had helped Ms Jayalalitha capture power in the state. UNI