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Karunanidhi accuses Centre of 'double standards'

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi has charged the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government with adopting "double standards" and "contradictory stances" on the corruption cases against former chief ministers J Jayalalitha and Laloo Prasad Yadav.

He said in Madras that the Centre's stand, made known by the attorney-general's statement before the Supreme Court that it alone has the power to constitute special courts to try Jayalalitha, showed that Vajpayee is willing to tolerate her corrupt deeds to save his government.

"I am saddened. My hopes that Mr Vajpayee would ensure honesty and probity in public life have been belied," he said.

Karunanidhi said the Centre's new stand was contradictory to the additional solicitor-general's statement before the Madras high court as well as the high court bench judgment upholding the state government's decision to appoint special courts for corruption cases relating to the rule of the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

"We continue to stand by the decision to appoint special judges and our counsel will reiterate this before the apex court," the chief minister said.

On Union Law Minister M Thambidurai's recent statement that the Centre had not cleared the state's decision to appoint special judges, he said: "The case is now pending before the apex court. I don't want to say anything on an issue that is sub-judice."

Asked about the Centre's letter to the chief secretary on the issue, he said the state home secretary had replied to it.

He replied in the negative when asked whether he would discuss the issue with Vajpayee during the latter's scheduled visit to the city on January 2.

Speaking about former Central Bureau of Investigation director Joginder Singh's disclosure that a Union minister from Tamil Nadu had pressurised him to register a case against Jayalalitha, the chief minister said former Union minister S R Balasubramanian had already replied to Singh's charge.

It was a matter of concern that a former CBI director had made the charge when the central agency was probing the case relating to the gift of US $300,000 to Jayalalitha from an unknown source abroad when she was chief minister, he added.

Asked about the state government's reaction to the Centre's suggestions on the Prevention of Terrorism Activities Act passed by the state assembly, Karunanidhi said: "We are still studying the suggestions."

Asserting that there would be no let-up in the operations against sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, he said both the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments had to take decide whether to seek assistance from the army.

UNI

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