POTA panel needs to be reviewed soon, says Naidu

Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa’s POTA-use threat sent the MDMK scouting for support at the Centre today.MDMK presidium chairman L. Ganesan ...

Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa’s POTA-use threat sent the MDMK scouting for support at the Centre today.

MDMK presidium chairman L. Ganesan and Union Minister M. Kannapan met BJP chief M. Venkaiah Naidu today. The meeting did have its effect on Naidu, who told reporters later that there was an urgent need for a review committee on POTA in order to find out a mechanism to see that it was not misused. ‘‘It does not send a good message across if somebody is kept behind the bars for long due to a delay in the review,’’ he said.

When asked if he was in favour of an amendment in the Act, Naidu said, ‘‘The Law Ministry has to study this. There should be some mechanism to stop its misuse. There should be an objective assessment of any action taken by a state government.’’

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However, he ruled out any revocation of POTA even though ‘‘it may have been misused in a few cases.’’ In the case of Vaiko, he felt, the Act had been misused. As for Raja Bhaiyya, he said the BJP felt that it was ‘‘not a fit case for POTA.’’ He could have been booked under another law,’’ he added.

The MDMK leaders, according to Naidu, showed him the copies of the statements made by Kannapan, in which he had only expressed his sympathy for Sri Lankan Tamils.

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