3 July 2001

JAYALALITHA BOWS AND ESCAPES IMMINENT DISMISSAL

From Jal Khambata

NEW DELHI: Within hours of the Jayalalitha Government dropping the cases of assault on Police against the two Union Ministers of DMK to maintain "cordial relationship" with the Centre, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday withdrew the Damocles sword of the President's rule hanging on her head and decided to issue directives alongwith a warning that they should be complied with within a "time limit."

Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters, after a three-hour long meeting, that the Home Ministry will be issuing the warning in a day or two to Jayalalitha to tell her about the wrongs, including human right violations, she had inflicted on her political opponents.

They said the directives were being issued to Jayalalitha in full compliance of the Sarkaria Commission report on the Centre-State relations as also in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment in the Bommai case.

It will be an unprecedented step taken by the Centre to issue the warning to the Tamil Nadu Government instead of the dismissal which had been resorted by the Congress and other governments whenver there was a confrontation between the Centre and the state.

The warning likely to go on Wednesday will ask the State Government to rectify all the violations of democracy, freedom of Press, federalism and human rights and will also ask it to identify the Police officials guilty of committing these offences and proceed against them as per the law.

Jaitley said the Cabinet decision was based on the report submitted by a 3-member Central team of officials led by Special Secretary, Home, who had gone to Chennai for an on-spot inquiry. He said the Cabinet felt that an immediate action by the Centre was required to restore all Constitutional guarantees such as democracy, freedom of Press, federalism and human rights and that all these are restored and not violated in the future.

The withdrawal of the Police cases against the ministers, however, created yet another controversy as the Tamil Nadu Government claimed it was on the request of the Prime Minister and a spokesman of the Prime Minister quickly denied it as "incorrect", asserting that the Prime Minister had made no such request.

Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee, who was summoned back from London to give the Constitutional advice to the government, attended the meeting and is reported to have concurred with a brief prepared by the Law Ministry on how to handle the ticklish situation created by Jayalalitha just to take political revenge against her predecessor M Karunanidhi and other members of her DMK party.

The Tamil Nadu Government sources had claimed in Chennai while announcing to drop the cases against Union Ministers Murasoli Maran and T R Balu, that the Home Ministry had 'informally' conveyed to the state government that it was not in the best interest of cordial relationship between the Centre and states to file cases against the Union ministers.

The "informal" request was treated as a "direction" as it was readily accepted by Jayalalitha showing her nervousness, a minister boasted just before the Cabinet started the crucial meeting at the Prime Minister's House but two hours later a spokesman denied any such request or direction lest it showed Jayalalitha following the Centre's instructions and thus diluting the case that has been built up against her in the last four days.

The PMO sources also confirmed that an AIADMK team camping in Delhi since Monday to explain the episode that brought the Centre and the State face-to-face was declined an appointment by the Prime Minister and instead they were directed to meet Advani.

A team of 14 AIADMK MPs, led by former Union Law Minister Thambi Durrai, had shown the Tamil Nadu Police video clippings to President K R Narayanan on Monday in the massive public relations exercise launched by Jayalalitha to escape the President's rule. Advani had a look at the film on Tuesday while the same video clipping was also shown to Congress spokesman Jaipal Reddy at his residence and then to CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan and national secretary D Raja at the CPI headquarters Ajoy Bhawan.

The Cabinet meeting that began at 6.30 PM was expected to be over in less than an hour as the official briefing was scheduled at 8 PM at the Press Information Bureau, but the differences among the ministers apparently led to lengthening of the meeting to almost three hours. "We wanted to be careful to consider all repercussions before taking the decision," a Minister said to explain the prolonged meeting but asserted that there were no differences.

The controversy had begun with the arrest of the two Union ministers  in Chennai on June 30 for specific and explicit offences, under various sections of the IPC, including obstructing the police officials from discharging their duty during the arrest of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.

The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coordination committee had sought Monday night not only withdrawal of the cases against the ministers but also the release of over 30,000 people arrested for protesting against the arrest of Karunanidhi. The NDA felt release of the two ministers as not enough if the criminal cases were to continue against them.

Gauging the mood of the NDA partners, the Prime Minister had reportedly asked the Union Home Secretary to informally tell the state authorities to take the remedial steps and the authorities had started letting off the demonstrators since Monday night itself to show that Jayalalitha is not adamant on any kind of confrontation with the Centre and ready to accept its directions even when coming informally.

Union Minister T R Balu, who had refused to leave the jail on Monday even after the District Magistrate called on him to convey the court's orders to release him, finally left the jail on Tuesday but Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran continued in the Apollo Hospital in Chennai claiming that he was still in custody though the Police posted at the hospital has been withdrawn.

Balu has affirmed in Chennai after coming out of the jail that neither he nor Maran wanted to obstruct the Police from arresting Karunanidhi as all that they wanted to know was the warrant on the basis of which their 77-year old leader was being arrested at the dead of the night like a hardened criminal. As such, he described withdrawal of the charges against him and Maran as the vindication of the DMK's stand.

The Centre's Pressure on Jayalalitha was also to drop the case against Karunanidhi but she did not yield on this score as both Karunanidhi and his son Stalin continued to be in jail on the charge of alleged corruption in the award of contracts for flyovers.

Jayalalitha got yet another slap from Chennai's Principal Sessions Judge S Ashok Kumar who was furious on the Crime Branch of Tamil Nadu Police for "hasty" conduct in filing the Rs 12-crore corruption case against DMK president M. Karunanidhi and defying his orders Saturday morning to take him first to hospital for a detailed medical checkup before he is sent to the jail.

The judge also criticised the undue hurry and grounds for arresting the septuagenarian leader in the middle of the night by using force while hearing the bail application of  Sreenivaasan, one of the accused in the mini-flyover scam case. END