TN Govt usurping Centre: ADMK

The memorandum was a sequel to TMC chief GK Moopanar’s letter to the President justifying the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to set up special courts to try corruption cases against Jayalalitha. Moopanar in his letter had condemned the “threatened interference” by the Centre in the judicial process and urged him to advise the BJP-led government against any “illegal act” aimed at saving itself from being destabilised by an “angry alliancepartner.” The AIADMK MPs said “the DMK government is using the TMC to shield itself and to fire from their shoulder in attempting to justify the usurpation of the exclusive power of the Centre.” The DMK government, the AIADMK MPs said, sought to transfer cases from the court of the principal sessions judge cum special judge to the newly-appointed special judges.

According to them, the State government was not vested with powers to specify as to which judge/court would try which case. These powers were vested only with the Central government, they said. The AIADMK told the President that Moopanar while justifying the State government’s action “is trying to mislead Your Excellency.” They said that “not only has the correct factual position been suppressed, but an attempt has been made to place wrong and misleading facts before you.”

The memorandum also quoted extensively from the application filed by the Centre before the Supreme Court on the issue and pointed that it had been made abundantlyclear that a power which could have been exercised by the Centre had been exercised by the State. Taking a swipe at the TMC’s commitment to the “crusade against corruption,” the MPs said that nothing could be farther from the truth. They referred to Moopanar’s alleged links with those involved in the Indian Bank scam.