MADRAS, 4 September 2004 — A special court in Poonamallee, near Madras, has rejected a petition by the Tamil Nadu state government for withdrawal of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) cases against a regional party leader Vaiko.
Vaiko, whose party Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) is part of the ruling coalition in Delhi, is facing charges under the anti-terrorism law for making speeches in support of the Sri Lankan rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which is banned in India as a terrorist outfit.
Tamil Nadu government, headed by AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalitha, had slapped the terrorism case against Vaiko and eight other MDMK party functionaries in 2002, when the party was a partner in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Delhi. He spent 19 months in jail and came out on bail in February.
But under pressure from its other Tamil Nadu allies like the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Vajpayee government amended the anti-terror law twice to provide for a review committee and empowering the committee to review even cases in which trial had already commenced.
The committee, after reviewing Vaiko’s case, had concluded that there was no prima facie case against him, forcing the state government to file a petition in the special court to withdraw the case. But yesterday, the special court Judge L. Rajendran threw out the government petition and said that he would take the case to its logical conclusion.
The judge also rejected as “premature and aribitrary’’ the findings of the review committee, on the basis of which the petition to withdraw the case was filed.
Vaiko is planning to move the Madras High Court against the order. The Jayalalithaa government had fought protracted but unsuccessful battles in both the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court of India, at every stage to keep the case against Vaiko alive.
The trial in the cases against Vaiko and others are at an advanced stage, and the examination of witnesses, if the trial resumes now, is likely to be finished in less than two weeks.
