8 December 2000

VAJPAYEE ORDERS TRAPS FOR JAYALALITHA

From Jal Khambata

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is understood to have ordered speeding up of the cases pending against AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha, under pressure from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M Karunanidhi who fears she may recapture the state in the Assembly elections next April unless the Centre puts her in proper place.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been told to quicken the process of investigations against her while the senior officers of the Enforcement Directorate would be visiting Chennai soon to complete legal formalities for filing two more cases against her, a top source in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) disclosed.

Not happy with the pace of various Central cases pending against Jayalalitha, Karunanidhi had dispatched Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Muthuswamy to attend a meeting convened in the PMO early this week to review the cases.

The meeting chaired by Prime Minister's Secretary N K Singh was attended among others by Union Finance Secretary Ajit Kumar, CBI Chief R K Raghawan, Enforcement Director Shyam Dwara and officials of Ministries of Law and Personnel. Muthuswamy was specially flown in to get the latest inputs from the state government, the sources said.

Additional Secretary D C Gupta in the Ministry of Personnel was also present at the meeting in his capacity as the nodal officer for vigilance cases pertaining to former and present Chief Ministers. END