SC slams Karunanidhi, Baalu for ignoring notice

COURT JOLT: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi gets a warning from the Suprme Court.

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday threatened to issue arrest warrants against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, Union Transport Minister T R Baalu and four others for ignoring its contempt notice.

The case relates to the DMK Government organising a bandh in the state on October 1, 2007, in support of the Sethusamudaram Project though the court had forbidden it do so.

Opposition leader and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa filed a contempt notice against Karunanidhi alleging that the state government had ignored the Supreme Court’s order.

The Supreme Court served a contempt notice on Karunanidhi and others in October 2007 but only the Chief Secretary and DGP gave their replies.

The two officials, in an affidavit filed on July 30, denied allegations that they were responsible for willful and deliberate disobedience of the Supreme Court’s order.

A bench comprising Justices B N Agrawal and G S Singhvi made stringent comment on Karunanidhi and Baalu not filing their replies though they had sought four weeks time on July 30.

''What type of people are you? Are you above law? Will you dictate this court also? We will issue arrest warrants against the Chief Minister and seek his personal appearance in the court,” the angry judges said.

The court, however, granted them four weeks time as the last opportunity to file their replies.

Karunanidhi’s lawyer told the court that the Chief Minister does not want to file a separate affidavit and will adopt the one filed by the Chief Secretary.

The Supreme Court will next hear the case on September 22.

The court, on September 30 last year, had directed the state government not to organise the bandh but administration did not take any action against those who tried to disrupt normal life in the state and bandh was a success.