Karunanidhi refutes Jaya's charges on quota case

Chennai, Nov 11: Refuting AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa's allegation that the State had not properly handled the case pertaining to 69 per cent reservation before the Supreme Court, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said three leading advocates of the country were arguing the case on behalf of the state.

In a statement, he said the Tamil Nadu Government had appointed former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, former Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani and former Solicitor General Antharjuna to represent the state in the reservation case.

Quoting newspaper reports, he said ''Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal had made it clear that the Bench was not going to decide the validity of the inclusion of individual laws and that it was concerned only with issues of Ninth Schedule.'' The Chief Minister said Ms Jayalalithaa had no locus standi to talk about the reservation issue as her Government failed to give necessary clarification about the Tamil Nadu Act on 69 per cent reservation in 1993, when the case came up befor the apex court earlier.

If Ms Jayalalithaa was truly concerned about the issue, her party could have impleaded itself in the case, he added.

UNI