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High drama ahead of green light for DMK chief’s burial
Even as the late former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was buried at Anna memorial on Marina beach as per DMK’s and the patriarch family’s wishes on Wednesday, the process had materialised only after high drama at the Madras High Court, with the State insisting for his burial at the two-acre plot allocated for him on Gandhi Mandapam.
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Chennai
Ranging from a midnight hearing at the residence of the acting chief justice and thereafter at a special sitting at the Madras High Court, which was dominated by impassioned arguments from either side, the first bench comprising acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice SS Sundar after hearing arguments on either side, allowed the burial of Karunanidhi at Anna memorial.
“Considering the entire conspectus of this matter, the writ petition is allowed with a direction to the State authorities to provide a place for decent burial to lay the mortal remains of the (late) Dr Kalaignar M Karunanidhi, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on the Marina beach, within the precincts of the burial place of the founder of DMK party and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (late) Annadurai, namely at ‘Anna Memorial’ at Kamaraj Salai, Chennai, in consonance with the rough sketch provided by the petitioner.” Earlier, when the hearing commenced as scheduled at 8 am, the bench first resorted to passing an order dismissing the five pleas challenging the burial of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at Marina citing Coastal Regulation Zone violation among others.
However, when it came to the plea moved by social activist Traffic Ramaswamy seeking removal of all the three existing memorials in Marina, his counsel expressed reservation over withdrawal citing lack of instructions from Ramaswamy. However, he submitted that he had no objection to whatever order the court chooses to pass in DMK’s petition. But regardless of the same, the bench dismissed all the five petitions as withdrawn and proceeded to hear the case.
Senior counsel P Wilson appearing for the DMK argued that the Government’s refusal to allow the burial, despite their earlier decision to allow Jayalalithaa to be buried on the same ground amounts to violation of Article 14. He submitted that it would be inappropriate to bury Karunanidhi near memorials of Rajaji and Kamarajar near Gandhi Mandapam at Adayar as suggested by the State Government, since the ideologies of DMK patriarch and those leaders were totally different.
Arguing in support of the government’s decision, senior counsel C S Vaidyanathan submitted that the entire sequence of events was only to politicise the death of Karunanidhi in pursuit of a political agenda. He said the DK Chief Periyar was the tallest leader of the Dravidian movement. But he was not buried on Marina beach. He also took strong exception to the overnight withdrawal of the petitions challenging burials at Marina beach and claimed that it all seemed ‘stage managed’.
Government counsel recalls Karunanidhi’s stand on Janaki issue
The heated arguments during the hearing in the case over burial of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi also turned out to be a recall of the incidents happened post death of several other leaders of the State.
However, when senior counsel C S Vaidyanathan, representing the state government, expressed surprise at how the said litigants got information about of the state’s order, the advocates in the court hall booed him, prompting Justice Sundar to intervene and remind them about the decorum that needs to be maintained in court.
Thereafter, arguments surcharged with emotions prevailed with Vaidyanathan contending that the government decision was based on precedence set by Karunanidhi himself, when he was the chief minister. He said burials on the Marina has so far been allowed only for chief ministers, who had died in harness, and argued that a similar benefit could not be extended to a former CM. Pointing out that as CM Karunanidhi himself had not allotted space on the Marina for the burial of Janaki Ramachandran, since he was aware of the protocol, he noted that there was no corresponding duty on the part of the government to accede to the petitioner’s request based on sentiments and there was no right or corresponding duty being violated and hence a writ of mandamus could not be issued.
But, Justice Sundar sought to know as to why the aspect of precedence was not mentioned in the statement by the chief secretary and the objections merely confined to legal impediments. To this Vaidyanathan responded by saying that it was a mere press release and hence need not contain all the chapters and verses.
However, the two senior counsels were locked in a war of words when Wilson contended that some of the submission appeared to be ‘politically vengeful’ rather than being ‘legal arguments’. To this, Vaidyanathan retorted by saying that this was a personal attack on the counsel and sought the bench’s intervention. He said this was unheard of with a personal attack leashed out on a counsel.
But, Wilson hastened to add that it was surely not a personal attack and he was merely referring to the ‘malice in power’ at play in this case and appealed to the counsel not to get emotional as he was only about the malafides.
The Hearing
- The bench first resorted to passing an order dismissing the five pleas challenging the burial of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at Marina citing Coastal Regulation Zone violation among others.
- Senior counsel P Wilson appearing for the DMK submitted that it would be inappropriate to bury Karunanidhi near memorials of Rajaji and Kamarajar near Gandhi Mandapam at Adayar as suggested by the State Government, since the ideologies of DMK patriarch and those leaders were totally different.
- Arguing in support of the government’s decision, senior counsel CS Vaidyanathan submitted that the entire sequence of events was only to politicise the death of Karunanidhi in pursuit of a political agenda. He said the DK Chief Periyar was the tallest leader of the Dravidian movement. But he was not buried on Marina.
- The first bench comprising acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice SS Sundar after hearing arguments on either side, allowed the burial of Karunanidhi at Anna memorial.
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