SC refuses to entertain plea seeking stay on Karunanidhi’s last rites

Chennai, Aug 8: The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a petition that sought a stay on the last rites of M Karunanidhi. Activist Traffic Ramaswamy had approached the Supreme Court against the order of the Madras High Court which permitted the burial of Karunanidhi to be held at Marina Beach.

Meanwhile the Tamil Nadu government will not prefer an appeal in the Supreme Court. The government indicated that it has accepted the order of the Madras HC and will not go in appeal to the Supreme Court. Moreover the Madras HC too provided only an operative portion of the judgment and said that the full order would follow.

The DMK put out an emotive argument at the court when it said, " all we need is 6X6 ft land for our leader and nothing else." It was also pointed out that Karunanidhi's mentor, Annadurai too is buried there.

The petition in the HC became necessary after the Tamil Nadu government rejected the DMK's request to bury their leader at Marina. It may be recalled that the TN government had circumvented a ban on the construction of 500 metres from the water front along the beach by burying Jayalalithaa in an existing memorial of M G Ramachandran.

The DMK told the court that the same yardstick should apply for Karunanidhi as well. The state however cited pending legal cases and also the Coastal Zone Regulation Act. It said that 2 acres of land would be allowed at Gandhi Mandapam. Other former CMs, Rajaji, and Kamaraj are also buried at the same place.