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Kannappan to face Pota charges
Chennai, Sept 22: Tamil Nadu government has decided take action against Union Minister and MDMK leader M Kannappan under Pota for speaking in favour of the banned LTTE and sought his removal from the Union Cabinet.
Chennai, Sept 22: Tamil Nadu government has decided take action against Union Minister and MDMK leader M Kannappan under Pota for speaking in favour of the banned LTTE and sought his removal from the Union Cabinet.
In a letter to the Prime Minister A B Vajpayee today, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said "before resorting to such action I am requesting you to personally intervene in the matter as continuance of such a person in the Union Council of Ministers would compromise national security".
She pointed out that at a book release function on Sept 16, Kannappan had openly declared his party's allegiance to the LTTE. He had also said that MDMK general secretary and Pota detenue Vaiko was right in supporting the banned organisation. Terming as "anti-national" the conduct of Kannappan, who is Union Minister of State for non-conventional energy resources, Jayalalithaa said he had "publicly and vociferously" been speaking out in support of LTTE, which "has been declared as a terrorist organisation under Sec 18 of Pota."
"As a disciplined and law respecting state government of the Indian Union, this government considers that it will be only proper for the state to initiate proceedings against this minister. My government has, therefore, decided to take suitable action as contemplated under Pota", she said.
Stating that Tamil Nadu was entitled as per the mandate of the constitution to take action against the Minister, she said "no law prevents even a central minister from being arrested by the state government in public interest and public discipline if he or she indulges in activities against the law of the land and prosecution can be initiated by the state against him." Jayalalithaa said that Kannappan's "audacity in indulging in such flagrant violation of law is only due to the position which he is holding and he is breaking the provisions of the Constitution after taking oath under it".
She requested the Prime Minister to urgently intervene in the matter and take steps to remove Kannappan from the ministry in the interest of the nation and thus uphold the rule of law.
Stating that the state government "cannot wait endlessly" without taking any action "as Kannappan is continuously offending the mandatory provisions of Pota", she asserted that in the event of the prime minister not taking action due to "compelling political reasons", the state government would be constrained to take action "given the gravity of the matter". In the five-page letter, a copy of which was released to the media here, Jayalalithaa said Kannappan had confessed that he had already spoken 25 times in support of the LTTE and his Sept 16 speech was the 26th time.
Jayalalithaa enclosed clippings of latest speech by the Minister.
Bureau Report
She pointed out that at a book release function on Sept 16, Kannappan had openly declared his party's allegiance to the LTTE. He had also said that MDMK general secretary and Pota detenue Vaiko was right in supporting the banned organisation. Terming as "anti-national" the conduct of Kannappan, who is Union Minister of State for non-conventional energy resources, Jayalalithaa said he had "publicly and vociferously" been speaking out in support of LTTE, which "has been declared as a terrorist organisation under Sec 18 of Pota."
"As a disciplined and law respecting state government of the Indian Union, this government considers that it will be only proper for the state to initiate proceedings against this minister. My government has, therefore, decided to take suitable action as contemplated under Pota", she said.
Stating that Tamil Nadu was entitled as per the mandate of the constitution to take action against the Minister, she said "no law prevents even a central minister from being arrested by the state government in public interest and public discipline if he or she indulges in activities against the law of the land and prosecution can be initiated by the state against him." Jayalalithaa said that Kannappan's "audacity in indulging in such flagrant violation of law is only due to the position which he is holding and he is breaking the provisions of the Constitution after taking oath under it".
She requested the Prime Minister to urgently intervene in the matter and take steps to remove Kannappan from the ministry in the interest of the nation and thus uphold the rule of law.
Stating that the state government "cannot wait endlessly" without taking any action "as Kannappan is continuously offending the mandatory provisions of Pota", she asserted that in the event of the prime minister not taking action due to "compelling political reasons", the state government would be constrained to take action "given the gravity of the matter". In the five-page letter, a copy of which was released to the media here, Jayalalithaa said Kannappan had confessed that he had already spoken 25 times in support of the LTTE and his Sept 16 speech was the 26th time.
Jayalalithaa enclosed clippings of latest speech by the Minister.
Bureau Report