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Union Cabinet meets on Karunanidhi arrest

At the time of writing this, the Union Cabinet -- with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the chair -- is in emergency session to discuss the situation arising out of the dramatic arrest of former chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi in Madras in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday.

Meanwhile, highly placed sources in the Union home ministry indicate that TN Governor Fathima Beevi, in a report submitted at 9 am this morning, has given a clean chit to Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jayaram on the arrest and subsequent developments.

Home ministry sources indicate that Beevi's report is in line with Jayalalitha's own statement released late on Saturday evening.

The Cabinet meanwhile will consider two reports on the arrest of Karunanidhi as also Union Cabinet Ministers Murasoli Maran and T R Balu -- the one authored by Beevi, and the other by state chief secretary P Shanker.

Both Beevi and Shanker fell foul of the Central government on Saturday. Shanker, specifically requested by Vajpayee to submit a report on the incidents in TN, failed to do so.

This prompted Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley, as per instructions from the PM, to ask Union Home Secretary Kamal Pande to contact Shanker and officially demand a report by 9 am on Sunday.

Similarly, the state Governor drew flak from both the PMO and the leaders of the National Democratic Alliance for failing to fulfill her constitutional obligation and report on the events in Madras. As with Shanker, Fathima Beevi was given till 9 am this morning to submit her report.

Both Shanker and Beevi submitted their reports minutes before the deadline. The reports were then studied by Pande and by Arun Jaitley, before they were placed before the ongoing meeting of the Cabinet.

Meanwhile, a home ministry team led by Special Secretary M B Kaushal flew down to Madras in the late hours of Saturday, for an on-the-spot study of the situation. The team is expected to report to the Cabinet later on Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, a fact-finding team of NDA leaders led by George Fernandes left for Madras this morning, to meet with various political leaders as also the Governor.

The Cabinet will, after due consideration of the various reports, decide on its next step.

While official sources refrained from commenting on the possible steps the Cabinet would take, Law Minister Arun Jaitley in statements to the media gave indications of the thinking within the central government.

Jaitley argued that the modality of the arrests were contrary to both law, and human rights. Legally, Jaitely pointed out, it is mandatory for a court to sit in public session, with due opportunity for the media and the public to attend. Thus, when Additional Sessions Magistrate Ashok Kumar 'convened court' at his residence at 2.30 am to remand Karunandhi to judicial custody, it was unconstitutional, Jaitley argued.

NDA leaders meanwhile have trained their guns on Governor Fathima Beevi, targetting her failure to keep the Centre abreast of developments. A serious view is being taken of the fact that despite a specific request from the PMO for information, Beevi failed to submit her report, doing so only after she was given a flat deadline by the home secretary.

Sources indicate that the Cabinet will, following the return of Home Minister L K Advani from Istanbul on July 3, move to remove Fathima Beevi from her post.

Karunanidhi's Arrest: The Complete Coverage

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