SC stays proceedings in Kiruttinan murder case

New Delhi, May 15 (UNI) The Supreme Court today stayed till further orders the trial in the murder case of former Tamil Nadu minister Kiruttinan.

A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhan and V S Sirpurkar also issued a notice to the state of Tamil Nadu on a petition filed by one of the witnesses in the case Suresh Kumar, alias Kremmer Suresh seeking transfer of the case from Madurai sessions court to Bangalore sessions court, Karnataka on the ground that since M K Azhagiri, elder son of Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi is the main accused in the case, no witnesses will be able to come forward against the accused who enjoys tremendous political clout in the state.

The petitioner has also submitted that the 56th birthday of Azhagiri was celebrated on a grand scale on January 30 this year and the function was attended by cabinet ministers, top police officers, prosecutors and legislators and to top it all by Mr Karunanidhi himself.

The deceaed T Kiruttinan was killed in Madurai in May 2003 over political supremacy in the DMK to which the victim also belonged and was a former minister of the same party.

The petitioner has sought transfer of the case to Karnataka to ensure free and fair trial in the case. Azhagiri is suspected to be behind the attack on a media office in which three employees of the newspaper were killed.

UNI