Minister defends choice of counsel in Cauvery case

Replying to the debate on the demand for grants for his department in the Assembly, Shanmugam said the team of experts who had been involved in the case during the last 30 years was the same during the AIADMK and DMK regimes. 

Shanmugam informed the House so, before admitting that only the senior counsels had changed. Pertinently, the Opposition led by the DMK has only been faulting the AIADMK regime for its choice of senior lawyer. 

Leader of Opposition MK Stalin had even suggested that the government should have continued with senior counsel Parasaran, who was well versed with the subject. While rebutting the charges of the Opposition, Shanmugam also took time to indirectly criticise RK Nagar MLA TTV Dhinakaran. 

“Persons who were chased away from Poes Garden do not deserve to talk about it (choice of advocate),” the Law Minister quipped. Probably, he was referring to Dhinakaran who had advised the government last week not to handle the Sterlite copper plant closure case the same way it did the Cauvery case. 

On the release of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts, the Minister said, “There is no second opinion,” that the convicts in the case should be freed. He was answering to the plea of MLA M Thamimun Ansari that the state government should take steps for their release. 

The Minister said the state government’s decision to release the seven lifeterm convicts in the case was based on the policy of late chief minister “Amma” (Jayalalithaa).  However, the Centre took the matter to the Supreme Court where it was pending, he said adding the state government would decide its future course of action after the top court pronounced its verdict in the matter.