Karunanidhi, Baalu be punished for defying court orders:AIADMK

New Delhi, Sep 18 (UNI) The AIADMK headed by former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has submitted that the Supreme Court should take action against Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, Union Minister T R Baalu and State Chief Secretary L K Tripathi and others for wilfully defying the apex court orders dated September 30, 2007 on holding of a bandh.

The apex court orders had directed the respondents not to enforce a Tamil Nadu bandh for speedy completion of the Sethusamudram project.

The AIADMK, in its rejoinder filed in the Supreme Court yesterday, contended, ''Further, the bandh call, put in issue in the proceedings, was made by the members of the ruling DPA and indeed the decision to call for a bandh was taken in a meeting chaired by the fourth respondent ( Mr Karunanidhi), who had also made a public announcement about the decision. As such the bandh was a state-sponsored bandh.'' A bench headed by Justice B N Agarwal, in a special sitting on September 30 last year, had issued orders to the respondents not to enforce the bandh as it would disrupt normal life in the state and cause hardships to the people.

Mr Baalu made some ojectionable remarks against the Judge for passing the September 30 order.

On the last date of hearing, Justices Agarwal and J S Singhvi threatened that the court would direct the personal presence of Mr Karunanidhi and Mr Baalu as nobody is above the law in this country.

The court was annoyed by the casual attitude of the respondents in respondng to the contempt notice issued by it.

Mr Karunanidhi and Mr Baalu in their counter-affidavit had denied the allegations that they had enforced the bandh on October 1, 2007 in open defiance of the court orders.

The AIADMK contested the claim of the respondents that they were unaware of the Court order and pointed out that the counsel for the Tamil Nadu government was present in the court during the hearing on September 30, 2007.

According to the rejoinder, hardly 61 public transport buses plied on the bandh day and the entire state machinery was hand in glove with the ruling party to make it (bandh) a success.

The contempt petition will come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on September 22.

UNI SC LPB HS1709